Could Medicinal Cannabis be the Answer to the Prescription Drug Crisis?

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On February 23, 2017

Why we Have a prescription Drug Crisis!

The class of drugs known as opioids such as oxycodone and hydromophone were only prescribed by physicians until the mid 1990’s to patients who were dying or were suffering from very severe acute or chronic pain. The introduction of Oxycontin led to doctors prescribing opioids for pain, because the drug was designed to release in as little as 30 minutes, a very effective analgesic (pain relieving) effect, which depending on the individual could last for up to twelve hours. But one aspect of the drug that was not taken into consideration at the time, was that opioids also have a high rate of addiction risk. In fact many patients could become dependent in as little as two weeks! And even though OxyContin’s is unavailable in Canada , Canadians are popping more pain pills than ever! In 2010, for the first time, Canada edged past the United States to become the highest opioid-consuming country, per capita, in the world!

In this day and age, the despair caused by opioids is blatantly evident, so what if anything is the answer to this immense concern? And… could the answer be medicinal Cannabis? Research is starting to show that medicinal cannabis may be a possible option for those suffering from pain conditions that are problematic to treat. In fact a 2015 paper from David Powell and Rosalie Pacula of the RAND Corporation and Mireille Jacobson of the University of California Irvine concluded, “Our findings suggest that providing broader access to medical marijuana may have the potential benefit of reducing abuse of highly addictive painkillers.”

The researchers looked at both treatment admissions for opioid pain reliever misuse and state-level opioid overdose deaths. They found relative decreases in misuse and deaths in states with medical marijuana dispensaries, but they didn’t find decreases in states that allow medical marijuana without dispensaries. So the big factor in reducing misuse and deaths seemed to be not just medical marijuana legalization but also access to medicinal pot through dispensaries. To read full Vox article click here

Also… Watch this short informational video featuring Dr. Donald Abrams… Research suggests Cannabinoids could be a good exit medication for people who have addictions to Opiates. Chief Medical Advisor Dr Donald Abrams explains more about the findings from the study funded by the Natural Institute on Drug Abuse.