The American Medical Association published a federally-funded study that adds more evidence to the fact that marijuana is an effective alternative for opioids when treating chronic pain.
Journal of the American Medical Association, Internal Medicine, Monday published a study that examined the opioid prescribing trend among chronic-pain patients in New York who participated in the medical cannabis program in the state between 2018 and 2023.
The authors note that “Medical Cannabis is becoming a more popular alternative to opioids for treating chronic pain due to the need for alternatives in order combat an ongoing opioid epidemic.”
The results of their study showed, to that end: “New York’s cannabis program is associated with significantly decreased prescription opioid receipt.”
The 204 participants recruited for the research project—which was led by scientists at the Montefiore Medical Center, University of Arizona and City University of New York—were all prescribed opioids for pain management and were “newly certified for medical cannabis use.” The cannabis and opioid usage of the 204 participants was tracked over a period of 18 months.
In the study, it was found that opioid usage decreased significantly in the month they began using marijuana as part of their regimen. The marijuana users reported using 3.53 less morphine equivalents per day than chronic pain sufferers who did not use cannabis.
Deepika E. Slawek M.D. M.S. (lead author) said that chronic pain and addiction to opioids are the two most important health problems in the United States. “Our findings indicate that medical cannabis, when dispensed through a pharmacist-supervised system, can relieve chronic pain while also meaningfully reducing patients’ reliance on prescription opioids. Medical cannabis used under strict supervision may be an effective tool to combat the opioid crisis.
According to the newly-published paper, “participation NYS medical cannabis program is associated with decreased prescription opioids receipt over 18 months of follow up prospectively accounting for cannabis use.”
The authors noted that their study was unique in the way it prospectively examined medical cannabis in a medicalized program, with the involvement of both pharmacists and doctors.
In this longitudinal, prospective cohort study, the NYSMCP participation as assessed by days of dispensing medical cannabis reported by pharmacists was linked to a reduced prescription opioid intake, according to the study. The study says that “our findings are consistent with existing research that indicates that patients suffering from chronic pain may benefit from medical cannabis as an alternative to prescription opioids.”
The National Institute on Drug Abuse funded the research.
The study is just one example of the many that are showing how cannabis may be a viable alternative to other addictive treatments such as opioids.
A recent study by the AMA that was funded federally found, “significantly” associated marijuana legalization for recreational or medical purposes with a decrease in opioid consumption among cancer patients.
In a separate study published in Oct., it was found that the legalization of medical marijuana is also “associated with a significant reduction in opioid prescriptions.”
In August, meanwhile, Australian researchers published a study showing that marijuana can serve as an effective substitute for opioids in pain management treatment.
Another study published earlier this year in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review found that, among drug users who experience chronic pain, daily cannabis use was linked to a higher likelihood of quitting the use of opioids—especially among men.
Research published late last year also found that legalizing medical cannabis appeared to significantly reduce monetary payments from opioid manufacturers to doctors who specialize in pain, with authors finding “evidence that this decrease is due to medical marijuana becoming available as a substitute” for prescription painkillers.
Another recent study also found a decrease in opioid fatal overdoses when marijuana for adults was legalized. That study found a “consistent negative relationship” between legalization and fatal overdoses, with more significant effects in states that legalized cannabis earlier in the opioid crisis. The authors estimated that legalizing recreational marijuana “is associated” with a reduction of approximately 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 people.
The report concluded that, “Our results suggest that expanding recreational marijuana use could be a way to combat the opioid crisis.” Previous research has shown that marijuana, primarily used for medical purposes, can help reduce the number of opioid prescriptions. We also found it could reduce overdose deaths.
Another recently published report into prescription opioid use in Utah following the state’s legalization of medical marijuana found that the availability of legal cannabis both reduced opioid use by patients with chronic pain and helped drive down prescription overdose deaths statewide. It concluded that the results showed “cannabis plays a significant role in the pain management process and the reduction of opioid consumption.”