Medical Marijuana Lowers Prescription Drug Abuse

Research Shows That Medical Marijuana Lowers Prescription Drug Abuse

Guest article by Helen Smith

The abuse of prescription opioids such as heroin, morphine and prescription painkillers is a global problem affecting up to 36 million people worldwide. Opioid addiction is of particular concern in the United States, with over two million people abusing prescription medications and around half a million addicted to heroin. The consequences of opioid abuse are immense; the Centers for Disease Control (CDCP) and Prevention notes that deaths via the overdose of prescription medications have risen four-fould since 1999; almost half of all opioid overdose deaths involve prescription medications. The most common medications which contribute to so many needless deaths, are methadone, oxycodone and hydrocodone. The CDC notes that around 1,000 people are treated daily in emergency rooms following the abuse of prescription drugs.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel, though, with research showing that medical marijuana may curb the rate of prescription drug abuse.

Promising Figures in States with Legalized Medical Marijuana

Researchers at the University of Georgia recently published a study in the journal, Health Affairs (July, 2016), indicating that medical marijuana is having a positive effect on Medicare’s prescription drug benefit program, in those states which have legalized it. The researchers estimate that a saving of $165.2 million was made in 2013, when the District of Columbia and 13 other states legalized marijuana for medical purposes. They estimate that if all states were to follow suit, the savings to Medicare would have amounted to $468 million. The reason for the success of legalization, they say, is that those who previously only had recourse to prescription medications, are now relying on medical marijuana.

Some of the conditions which respond well to cannabis in so far as symptoms are concerned, include Alzheimer’s Disease, arthritis, ADHD, autism, HIV/AIDS, hypoglycemia, inflammatory bowel disease, insomnia, major depression, malignant melanoma, intractable vomiting, motion sickness, glaucoma, anxiety, nausea, psychosis, seizures, spasticity, myeloid leukemia, and more. Cannabis is mainly used to ameliorate symptoms such as pain, sleeping problems and lack of appetite related to specific diseases. Medical cannabis is only recommended, of course, when physicians make a due diagnosis and deem that cannabis can form part of a patient’s course of treatment.

The findings of the University of Georgia researchers suggest that marijuana is truly being used for medical, rather than for recreational, purposes. To obtain their results, they researched data on all prescriptions filled by Medicare Part D enrollees; they focused only on conditions that could be alternatively treated with cannabis – these were anxiety, depression, glaucoma, nausea, pain, psychosis, seizures, sleep disorders and spasticity.

Interestingly, although less prescriptions were written (owing to the use of medical cannabis) for all other conditions, the number of opioid prescriptions written for glaucoma increased. This is because marijuana does decrease the eye pressure associated with this eye disease, but only for an hour. Because it is unrealistic to expect patients to consume marijuana on an hourly basis, the number of doses prescribed for other medication actuallys increased. The opposite could be said for all other conditions, however, including those involving pain and depression.

Medical Marijuana: The Legal Situation Differs from State to State

In the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is categorized as a Schedule 1 drug – this is the most restrictive of all classifications, and suggests that the substance wields a high potential for abuse. Some states have expressed their disagreement with this type of classification.

The first state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes was California (in 1996). Two years down the line, Oregon, Washington and Alaska followed suit. Just this year (in June, 2016), Ohio and Pennsylvania also made medical cannabis legal. Currently, there are 25 states that permit marijuana use for medical purposes, as well as the District of Columbia.

There is great variation in laws between states, however with respect to limits and use. Additionally, while physicians can recommend medical marijuana to their patients, they are not lawfully permitted to prescribe it. Moreover, despite its legal status, marijuana cannot be purchased at pharmacies. Users must seek out a dispensary or grow the plants themselves. Currently, however, the laws with respect to growing marijuana at home also differ from state to state. It could be argued that the situation should be standardized from state to state, so that patients’ rights throughout the nation are identical.

Are Patients who Rely on Medical Marijuana Vulnerable?

The researchers noted that the fact that many patients have to resort to dispensaries to obtain medical marijuana, may be counter-productive to patients’ health. The researchers worry, for instance, that once patients go out of the medical system, they might start visiting their doctor less, thereby letting other problems (such as high blood sugar or non-symptomatic high blood pressure) go unchecked. Still, on the whole, they are pleased with the cost savings that legalization has brought about. They note that more widespread approval will bring even bigger budgetary savings, though further research needs to be carried out on the health consequences of the current distribution process for medical marijuana.

Opponents to Medical Marijuana

The strongest opponent to medical marijuana is the big pharma industry, since the financial stakes are high; currently pharma makes around $10 billion per year, yet states should consider the current costs of opioid addiction. For one, rehabilitation programmes can expensive, with patients often finding it difficult to quit the use of such highly addictive substances. Other losses arise from impaired work productivity, the impact on legal and correctional systems, additional health care costs, etc. Of course, the personal cost imposed by addiction should not be ignored. Families who have been touched by addiction know that the subject is traumatic, especially when a loved one is lost to overdose. Now that we have evidence of the positive effect of medical marijuana when it comes to reducing opioid abuse, cannabis should ideally be seen as just one measure to be adopted to battle the prescription medication epidemic. Legalizing marijuana is not the panacea to all drug related problems, but research indicates that it is a step in the right direction.

Further Reading

• http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/medical-marijuana-lowers-prescription-drug-use-0716/
• http://www.rehabs.com/pro-talk-articles/opioid-companies-lobby-against-medical-marijuana/
• http://reason.com/blog/2016/07/13/medical-marijuana-reduces-prescription-d
• http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/medical-marijuana-prescription-drugs-1.3667375
• http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/35/7/1230.abstract
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8132133_Non-Medical_Use_of_Prescription_Stimulants_Among_US_College_Students_Prevalence_and_Correlates_from_a_National_Survey
• https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/americas-addiction-to-opioids-heroin-prescription-drug-abuse

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