Read the ten biggest stories that shaped marijuana policy in 2018.
Tag: opioids
Today is International Overdose Awareness Day! Data proves the enactment of marijuana laws is playing a positive role in combating America’s opioid crisis by reducing opioid overdose fatalities, misuse, dependency, and opioid-related hospitalizations. Help us spread the word and contact your lawmakers today!
After establishing the Governor’s Opioid State Action Accountability Task Force and requesting federal assistance to address Nevada’s opioid crisis, Governor Sandoval is exploring all options to combat the issue. Study after study has concluded that access to marijuana can reduce or eliminate the use of opioids in patients struggling with chronic pain.
Colorado’s Opioid and Other Substance Use Disorders Study Committee was established to explore what other states are doing to address substance use disorders, explore harm reduction, treatment, and recovery option, and of course identify possible legislative solutions.
The enactment of medical cannabis access laws is associated with significant reductions in prescription opioid use among Medicaid enrollees, according to just-published data in the journal Addiction. Authors reported, “For Schedule III opioid prescriptions, medical cannabis legalization was associated with a 29.6 percent reduction in number of prescriptions, 29.9 percent reduction in dosage, and 28.8 percent reduction in related Medicaid spending.”
KY NORML is passionate about education. And with the opioid epidemic consuming our state, we feel that it is our duty to share valuable information regarding the relationship between cannabis and opioids.
A forthcoming report commissioned by the Governor’s office is set to recommend that lawmakers legalize and regulate the possession and sale of marijuana by adults.
More than two-thirds of chronic pain patients registered to legally access medical cannabis products substitute marijuana for prescription opioids, according to data published in The Journal of Headache and Pain Among those patients diagnosed specifically with headache/migraine, cannabis was frequently reported as a substitute for other medications – including opiates (43 percent), anti-depressants (39 percent), NSAIDS (21 percent), triptans (8 percent), and anti-convulsants (8 percent).