Researchers reported: “For the first time, we show a statistically significant negative association between recreational access to cannabis and OTC sleep aid sales.”
Tag: substitution
Authors reported “an independent negative association between frequent cannabis use and frequent illicit opioid use.” Specifically, subjects who consumed cannabis daily “had about 50 percent lower odds of using illicit opioids every day [as] compared to cannabis non-users.”
Researchers concluded, “Our findings are consistent with prior surveys of American and Canadian marijuana users in which substitution of marijuana for opioids was prevalent due to better symptom management and fewer adverse and withdrawal effects.”
Patients diagnosed with chronic pain and other debilitating conditions typically reduce, or in some cases, eliminate their use of opioids following their enrollment in state-sanctioned medical cannabis access programs.
Military veterans who participate in a state’s medical marijuana access program frequently report substituting cannabis for alcohol and other controlled substances, according to data published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. Nearly half of all respondents said that they use medical cannabis in place of other prescription medications.
Patients authorized to legally use medical cannabis frequently substitute it in place of benzodiazepines, according to a pair of new studies published this week. According to data compiled by the US Centers for Disease Control, the use of benzodiazepines were attributed to over 11,500 overdose deaths in 2017.
Pain patients report successfully substituting cannabis for opioids and other analgesics, according to data published online today in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Among those who acknowledged having used opioid-based pain medication within the past six months, 97 percent agreed that they were able to decrease their opiate intake with cannabis.
Just under half of respondents (46 percent) reported using cannabis in place of prescription medications. Respondents were most likely to use cannabis in lieu of narcotics/opioids (36 percent), anxiolytics/benzodiazepenes (14 percent), and antidepressants (13 percent).