University of New Mexico researchers say the legal availability of medical marijuana has the potential to reduce opioid use among chronic pain patients.
The work of associate psychology professor Jacob Miguel Vigil and assistant economics professor Sarah See Stith was recently published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Vigil says informal surveys showed a significant proportion of patients substituted their opioid prescriptions with cannabis.
The study tracked 37 habitual opioid-using, chronic-pain patients who enrolled in the state medical marijuana program between 2010 and 2015, compared to 29 patients with similar health conditions who didn’t enroll.
As of October, more than 44,000 people were enrolled in New Mexico’s MMJ program.
The study would be a boon to medical marijuana business owners if more governmental agencies subscribed to its theory – especially at the federal level.
But a White House commission recently rejected the possibility of MMJ as an alternative for opioids.
– Associated Press
