Hamilton, Canada: The daily use of cannabis is associated with lower odds of opioid use among subjects undergoing drug treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), according to data published in the Harm Reduction Journal.
A team of investigators with McMaster University in Ontario assessed the relationship between self-reported cannabis use and opioid use over a three-month period in a cohort of 2,316 subjects undergoing clinical treatment for OUD. Just over half of the subjects in the study (51 percent) acknowledged using cannabis.
Those who reported consuming cannabis daily possessed significantly reduced odds of using opioids (OR = 0.61). By contrast, those that reported only occasional cannabis use did not possess a similarly lower risk.
Researchers reported: “We found that amongst cannabis users, those who use cannabis daily are less likely to have opioid use than people who use cannabis occasionally. This association was present for both men and women.”
They concluded: “For patients using cannabis during treatment, we provide evidence that certain characteristics of cannabis use are associated with less opioid use, including daily use. … Future studies should further examine specific characteristics and patterns of cannabis use that may be protective or problematic in MAT [medication-assisted treatment].”
Data published in December in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence reported that subjects engaged in opioid agonist therapy (OAT) who also consume cannabis are less likely than non-users to have any recent exposure to fentanyl. A literature review on the subject, also published last year, concluded: “Cannabis has to ease opioid withdrawal symptoms, reduce opioid consumption, ameliorate opioid cravings, prevent opioid relapse, improve OUD treatment retention, and reduce overdose deaths. … The compelling nature of these data and the relative safety profile of cannabis warrant further exploration of cannabis as an adjunct or alternative treatment for OUD.” Another study, published last year in the journal Addiction, reported that daily cannabis users undergoing therapy for opioid dependence are far more likely to complete their treatment regimen than are non-users.
Full text of the study, “The association between cannabis use and outcome in pharmacological treatment for opioid use disorder,” appears in the Harm Reduction Journal. Additional information is available from the NORML fact sheet, “Relationship Between Marijuana and Opioids.”