Confirming Big Pharma Fears, Study Suggests Medical Marijuana Laws Decrease Opioid Use [View all]

Lauren McCauley, staff writer

It is of little wonder that Big Pharma has been exposed actively undermining efforts to legalize marijuana, after new research on Thursday found a drop in the use of opioid painkillers in that states that allow people to treat pain with good, ol' Mary Jane.

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, examined data on traffic fatalities in 18 states and analyzed the cases in which the presence of opioids was detected. In states that had operational medical marijuana laws, which included either "allowances for home cultivation or active dispensaries," the Columbia University researchers found "a significant reduction in opioid positivity for drivers aged 21 to 40 years."

Thus, the researchers concluded that such laws "may reduce opioid use and overdose."

"We would expect the adverse consequences of opioid use to decrease over time in states where medical marijuana use is legal, as individuals substitute marijuana for opioids in the treatment of severe or chronic pain," explained lead author June H. Kim, a doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.

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