Marijuana Business Magazine - January 2017

Marijuana Business Daily - Half Pg Bleed - Submitted Feb 2 New Mexico 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 published in the journal PLOS ONE. The results indicate a strong correlation between enroll- ment in New Mexico’s medical marijuana program and cessation or reduction of opioid use. Vigil says informal surveys showed a significant proportion of patients substituted their opioid prescriptions with cannabis. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation to add post- traumatic stress disorder to the list of conditions that can legally be treated with medical marijuana in the state. The move opens another sales avenue for the state's MMJ businesses, which have been stymied by restrictive regulations. The Democratic governor said 19,000 New Yorkers with PTSD could be helped by medical marijuana, including veterans, police offic- ers and survivors of domestic violence, crime and accidents.