Posted on 08/26/2014 11:04:45 PM PDT by Ken H
One unexpected benefit of medical marijuana legislation appears to be a decrease in painkiller overdoses, perhaps because some chronic pain patients are turning to cannabis instead of powerful opioid drugs.
In states with laws legalizing medical marijuana, new research shows there are nearly 25 percent fewer deaths from painkiller overdoses. Opioid painkiller overdoses are a growing problem nationwide. More than 16,500 Americans died of opioid drug overdoses in 2010, and the numbers continue to rise.
Although a casual relationship hasn’t been proven, there appears to be a significant association between marijuana legislation and a fall in overdose deaths.
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania reported that in states that enacted medical cannabis laws between 1999 and 2010, there was a 24.8 percent lower annual opioid overdose death rate, compared to states without medical marijuana laws. The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health
(Excerpt) Read more at healthline.com ...
Think of the profit loss!
What a pile of bull crap. Remember, you can pay for a “study” to come up with any result you want.
If I am ever terminal cancer I will smoke and drink whatever it takes to manage the pain and avoid opiates.
Should I be arrested? You know, I just might get addicted to pot without a doctors script instead of getting addicted to opiates with a doctors script. Then die of cancer in jail shortly thereafter.
Don’t take the opiates. They will destroy you.
Functioning opiate addicts I know that can sustain stability: Zero.
Functioning pot addicts I know that can sustain stability: Need my digits, and yours to count them all.
Benzodiazepine + ethanol = ??
Thc + ethanol = ??
You’re right
This does not surprise me at all.
And that sounds pretty impressive.
On the other hand, it is difficult to say just how many more premature deaths might occur each year due to other factors, such as an increase in deaths due to driving while high.
In other words, it is very difficult to determine what the net difference would be; and which side it would favor.
Moreover, the law serves many purposes--one of which is didactic; the law serves as a sort of social instructor--and to legalize marijuana is to undercut this particular function of the law.
JAMA Intern Med. Published online August 25, 2014.
Conclusions and Relevance Medical cannabis laws are associated with significantly lower state-level opioid overdose mortality rates. Further investigation is required to determine how medical cannabis laws may interact with policies aimed at preventing opioid analgesic overdose.
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1898878
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Now a very good study. Examine death certificates and drawing conclusions is marginal at best. This is the methodology used to try and prove second hand smoke effects and recently has been totally debunked.
That said, not big on recreational pot. Saw too many lose ambition and it IS a gateway to other drugs. But you're dying or have an unmanageable disease?...so smoke a joint. Big deal. Morphine is legal for certain ailments, but marijuana isn't? Doesn't make sense. Personally, if I were terminal my best friends would be rum and valium, providing I'm not in pain. Then give me morphine...har!
What evidence do you have for increased traffic deaths in states with medical marijuana laws? Here's a 2011 study that says otherwise =>
ABSTRACT: Medical Marijuana Laws, Traffic Fatalities,and Alcohol Consumption
[snip] In addition, legalization is associated with a nearly 9 percent decrease in traffic fatalities, most likely to due to its impact on alcohol consumption.
Good news for my cancer patients.
some chronic pain patients are turning to cannabis instead of powerful opioid drugs.
There are alternatives to drugs for those suffering from chronic pain. Unfortunately I’ve seen patients choose drugs over those alternatives.
Or is pot now the recreational drug of choice since it's now much easier to get?
I saw my grandmother die from metastasized breast and liver cancer. Literally nothing touched the pain. She writhed and suffered for weeks.
If pot helps that sort of agony, go to town on it. It is immoral to allow that level of suffering when there are ways to keep it at bay.
I don’t do drugs, and rarely drink, and what people do to their own selves is not my business. I choose not to imbibe, but would never force my beliefs on other individual adults.
Do your cancer patients ever ask about medical marijuana?
If so, what do you tell them?
True, but just because there are hazards it doesn't mean that it is better to promote harder more addictive drugs.
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