Boston, MA: Adult-use marijuana legalization markets are associated with significant declines in non-medical opioid use among people who inject drugs (PWID), according to data published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Researchers affiliated with Boston University’s School of Public Health and Emory University evaluated trends in non-prescription opioid use among PWIDs in 13 states following marijuana legalization.
Investigators identified “striking” declines in the prevalence of daily opioid use post-legalization. “Notably, the magnitude of this decline was equivalent across all racial and ethnic groups and for males and females,” investigators reported.
The study’s authors concluded, “Our findings suggest that ongoing efforts to reduce regulatory barriers and legal and criminal consequences of cannabis use via RCL+MCLs [recreational cannabis legalization and medical cannabis legalization] may have the potential to help reduce overdoses and other opioid-related harms among PWID.”
Previous studies have reported that cannabis can reduce cravings and mitigate withdrawal symptoms in opioid-dependent subjects. Data from Canada finds that people who inject opioids are more likely to cease their behavior if they regularly consume cannabis.
Full text of the study, “Cannabis legalization and cannabis and opioid use in a large, multistate sample of people who inject drugs: A staggered adoption difference-in-differences analysis,” appears in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Relationship Between Marijuana and Opioids.’