Can Medical Marijuana reduce Opioid Overdose Mortality?
Reginald R Gervas, MD4.(MUHAS)
About one in every three individuals will experience chronic pain in their lifetime, and opioids are known to be an effective means to treat this condition.
The world (especially the developed countries) is faced with an increased bout in drug abuse and overdose deaths involving prescription opioid pain relievers such as morphine.
In USA, unintentional death from drug overdose have been increasing steeply from 1990s and they are the second leading cause of accidental deaths. The increase in death is caused by increase in opioids in managing chronic pain.
Due to urgency of this matter, there should be an alternative way in managing chronic pain rather than using opioids. Medical marijuana is one of good remedy in managing chronic pain. In states that have legalised medical marijuana, opioid overdose mortality has fallen impressively.
A study done by In an effort to examine the correlation between the presence of state medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality, Marcus A. Bachhuber, MD et al performed a time-series analysis of medical cannabis laws and state-level death certificate data from 1999 to 2010 in all 50 states.
From the analysis, it has been shown that compared with states without medical cannabis laws, states with laws had a 24.8% lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate (P=0.003). In each year after implementation, these laws correlated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time (Table 1).
Years after medical cannabis law implementation |
Change in overdose mortality |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | -19.9% |
| Year 2 | -25.2% |
| Year 3 | −23.6% |
| Year 4 | -20.2% |
| Year 5 | −33.7% |
| Year 6 | -33.3% |
“Medical cannabis laws are associated with significantly lower state-level opioid overdose mortality rates. Further investigation is required to determine how medical cannabis laws may interact with policies aimed at preventing opioid analgesic overdose.” Wrote the researchers.
- Schneider JP, Matthews M, Jamison RN (24 Oct 2010). "Abuse-deterrent and tamper-resistant opioid formulations: what is their role in addressing prescription opioid abuse?". CNS Drugs 10 (80): 805–810
- Okie S (November 2010). "A flood of opioids, a rising tide of deaths". N. Engl. J. Med. 363 (21): 1981–5.
- Bachhuber M (august 2014). “Medical Cannabis Laws and Opioid Analgesic Overdose Mortality in the United States, 1999-2010”. JAMA Intern Med
Dronabinol and nabilone are examples of synthetic tetrahydrocannabinoids products used as analgesic for chronic pain as wel as appetizers.
ReplyDeleteThis thing is effective I think it should be implemented in our medical facilities
ReplyDeleteIt can be possible . Coz it works .
ReplyDelete