A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that states that have legalized medical marijuana report significantly fewer overdose deaths than states that haven’t legalized medical cannabis.
The Study
For their study, researchers analyzed mortality data and medical marijuana adoption across the US between 1999 and 2010. Only 13 states adopted medical marijuana by the end of data collection, but the results were fascinating.
“We found that there was about a 25% lower rate of prescription painkiller overdose deaths on average after implementation of a medical marijuana law,” said lead author Dr. Marcus Bachhuber.
Looking solely at 2010, Bachhuber said states with medical marijuana laws experienced about 1,700 fewer deaths than what would have been expected based on numbers prior to medical marijuana legislation. Bachhuber said medical marijuana can be a viable option for individuals suffering from certain chronic pain conditions.
“It can be challenging for people to control chronic pain, so I think the more potions we have, the better,” he said. “But I think it’s important, of course, to weigh the risks and benefits of medical marijuana.”
As I mentioned in previous blog posts, the issue I have with marijuana is that it contains so many compounds that haven’t been sufficiently studied. I’m all for conducting more research on medical marijuana, but I don’t think the results of this study mean every state should immediately legalize medical marijuana.
It’s certainly an eye-opening study and raises many good points, but one of the main objectives of any good pain doctor is to control for as many variables as possible. That’s much harder to do with marijuana. You don’t know how the compounds in that specific plant are going to react with that specific person.
The American Academy of Pain Medicine echoed similar sentiments when discussing the recent findings.
“AAPM believes that we need to do research on cannabinoids to determine its safety and efficacy,” said Dr. Lynn Webster, former AAPM president. “The problem with medical marijuana is that we never know using marijuana what chemicals are being ingested. That makes it really unpredictable, but the use of cannabinoids may well have a place in the treatment of pain and other diseases. The AAPM believes that the DEA should reschedule cannabinoids from Schedule I to Schedule II so that it will make it easier for research to be conducted.”
There will almost certainly be more research on medical marijuana in the near future, but until more is known, it can’t be viewed as a perfect solution.
Related source: CNN.com