80% of opioid users stop or drop opioid doses after trying medicinal cannabis, new study says

There is growing evidence that medicinal cannabis can significantly reduce the need for opioids. In a recent study, 79% of patients, or four out of five people, experienced a cessation or reduction in pain medication use after beginning a medicinal cannabis cycle.

The study provided an individual perspective of cannabis substitution for opioids and other prescription drugs. This was followed by an associated improvement in quality of life over six months. The high rates of cannabis use for chronic pain and subsequent reductions in opioid use suggest that cannabis may have a harm reduction role in the opioid overdose crisis, potentially improving patients’ quality of life and overall public health.

Do some research to back up this claim

according to dr Peter Grinspoon, a Massachusetts General Hospital medical cannabis expert and Harvard Medical School teacher, recommends medicinal cannabis for mild to moderate but not severe pain. Opioids and other medications are often required in such situations. Yet nearly 100,000 people die from drug overdoses each year, mostly from strong opioids like fentanyl.

A group of researchers led by Carolyn E. Pritchett, Ph.D., of Emerald Coast Research in Tallahassee, Fla., set out to understand changes in opioid pain reliever use and assessments of how well one’s health is functioning. to document. They studied 2,183 Florida medical marijuana users who voluntarily disclosed their opioid and medical cannabis use.

The majority (85%) of the participants were white, more than 54% were women, and 95% of the volunteers were between the ages of 20 and 70. Most patients reported that using medical marijuana improved their quality of life. Many people (60.98%) admitted to having used opioids before using medicinal cannabis, and 93.36% said their prescription was changed as a result.

According to the large-sample study, published online September 27 in Substance Use & Misuse, pain and mental health together accounted for 47.9% of all reported ailments, followed by mental health at 28.9% and pain at 9, 1 %. The majority of patients indicated that using medicinal cannabis improved their quality of life. About six in ten respondents admitted to using opioids before starting medicinal cannabis, and the majority (79%) said they stopped or reduced their use of painkillers after starting medicinal cannabis. These patients reported noticing improvements in their physical and social functioning, as well as physical discomfort. The researchers observed that the limits caused by physical and mental problems did not change.

A key report from the study showed that some patients using medicinal cannabis reduced opioid use without affecting their quality of life or health shortly after medicinal cannabis use was approved. Additionally, 11.5% of survey respondents mentioned improved functionality.

Explaining their findings, the researchers said, “The results from our large sample size imply that prescription medicinal cannabis could significantly improve quality of life and reduce opioid harm for individuals with pain. Given that prescription medicinal cannabis was available less than two years prior to data collection, medicinal cannabis may have a more immediate role to play in curbing the local opioid crisis than previously thought. Our results support recent claims that the availability of medical cannabis has led to a decline in opioid use in Canada and some US states. The team further clarified that their findings support and provide further insight into recent studies of longitudinal increases in all domains of quality of life, including social connections, physical health and mental health, for medicinal cannabis users affected by a reduction in use of various prescription drugs (including benzodiazepines, non-opioids, and OBPM).

Other results of the study

According to researchers, these results add to the growing body of evidence showing that medical cannabis use may be linked to a decrease in opioid (and other) prescription drug use, without impacting quality of life or affecting health outcomes. A recent meta-analysis showed that cannabis has a moderate to significant effect on pain relief, with a significant effect of cannabinoids for a 30% pain reduction in 47 randomized controlled trials. These results suggest that using medical marijuana to treat chronic, non-cancer pain could be a viable alternative.

Evaluation of the relationship between cannabis and opioids

About 120 years ago, a revered scientist and Queen Victoria’s family doctor once described cannabis, actually Indian hemp, as the most helpful drug in the world. Reynolds believed marijuana could reduce demand for opium-based drugs, which are at risk of abuse and overdose. The problem with many opiates and tranquilizers, he says, is that they only provide temporary comfort that has to be paid for with future inconveniences. He emphasized that if he cannot administer Indian hemp, he has never seen such results.

Ironically, more than a century later, opioids are a primary treatment for extreme pain, while cannabis is criminalized almost everywhere in the world. Thanks to the relaxation of cannabis laws in America, researchers can now compare opioid and prescription painkiller overdoses in states that allow medical marijuana. However, due to the classification of the plant, it is not easy to react to the observed results. The plant is on Schedule I, the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) list of most dangerous drugs, which poses additional challenges for clinical trials.

In a similar study, David Bradford, a health economist at the University of Georgia, found evidence that medical marijuana can help people avoid starting an opioid drug. If they don’t start, they’re not on the road to abuse, abuse, and possibly death.

For better conclusions, more research is needed to clarify or support existing findings on cannabis and opioids. A key obstacle, as noted, is the lack of federal legislation, closely followed by the many avenues by which cannabis is distributed. Patients in a number of early studies smoked it, and each puff had a different THC content. With more modern delivery techniques such as vaporizers and edibles, the doses patients receive are even less known.

final remark

All studies suggest that cannabis could be an effective treatment for chronic pain and a viable opioid substitute. Cannabis may have fewer dangers and side effects than opioids, but there are still some significant concerns. More research and long-term data are needed to develop better cannabis medicines and drive cannabis reforms in the United States.

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