Medical Marijuana Cuts Use Of Prescription Drugs: Study

CHICAGO, IL — The first peer-reviewed scientific study of medical marijuana patients in Illinois to be published has shown that participants in the statewide program reduce their use of other conventional pharmaceuticals, such as opiates. The study, conducted by researchers from DePaul and Rush university and published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, assessed the use of prescription medication by 34 people enrolled in the Illinois medical cannabis program.

Medical marijuana users told researchers that they use cannabis as an alternative to other medications. Opioids were the drugs most commonly substituted out for cannabis, but patients also cut down their use of anticonvulsants, anti-inflammatories, and over-the-counter pain relievers.

Participants in the study, with an average age of 45, said they believed cannabis acts faster than conventional prescription drugs and has fewer negative side effects.

"Medical cannabis may be used intentionally to taper off prescription medications," the study's authors found.

"These findings align with previous research that has reported substitution or alternative use of cannabis for prescription pain medications due to concerns regarding addiction and better side-effect and symptom management, as well as complementary use to help manage side-effects of prescription medication," they wrote.

More research is needed to determine ideal doses for different patients, the researchers admit. The study was observational and qualitative and its sample was small and self-selecting among those medical marijuana patients who volunteered to respond.

The DePaul and Rush study's findings are similar to previous work by researchers at the University of Georgia, who found having more marijuana dispensaries in an area cut down on "adverse opioid outcomes," and the authors of a Journal of the American Medical Association-published paper that found states with legal forms of marijuana had about a 25 percent lower annual average opioid overdose death rate than states with complete prohibition.

Last year, 1,889 people died of opioid overdoses in Illinois, according to state public health officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found the abuse of such drugs has reached epidemic proportions, and President Donald Trump has declared it a national emergency.

There are about 25,000 medical marijuana patients in Illinois, according to the Chicago Tribune. The most common of the 40 medical conditions that permit patients to be prescribed marijuana in Illinois are fibromyalgia and cancer, followed by post-traumatic stress disorder.

One medical cannabis patient told the Tribune she had been prescribed a total of 18 different drugs, including opiates, to treat lupus and fibromyalgia but became dangerously dependent on painkillers. She said medical marijuana freed her from opiates, made her pain manageable and gave her her life back without addicting or intoxicating her.

» Read the study: “Preferences for medical marijuana over prescription medications among persons living with chronic conditions" in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

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