Recreational weed reduces demand for codeine, new study says

Opioids are powerful, addictive, and dangerous pharmaceutical drugs. This class of drugs is made with chemicals designed to relax the body, thereby relieving pain.

Prescription opioids are given to patients with various medical conditions to treat moderate to severe pain. However, due to its extremely addictive properties, many patients have become addicted to opioids and this has notoriously led to many deaths across the country. The opioid crisis has claimed thousands of lives in recent years, but doctors and pharmacies are still around and distributing them.

Some common examples of opioids are codeine, morphine, oxycodone, methadone, and hydrocodone. Luckily, increasing legalization of cannabis has helped stem the opioid crisis.

In one recent study, data shows that recreational cannabis laws have been linked to reduced demand for codeine. The study, published in the journal Health Economics, was conducted by researchers from New York’s Cornell University in collaboration with George Mason University in Virginia. They sought to understand how recreational cannabis laws, if any, affected the distribution of opioids to dispensaries and hospitals.

Researchers discovered that demand for codeine distribution to pharmacies in 10 states and Washington DC fell by 26%. They also found that codeine pharmacy distribution dropped even further to 37% after these laws were in place for four years. The study authors state that this is one of the first studies to explain the impact of recreational cannabis laws on the shipping and distribution of opioids to retailers, including hospitals and pharmacies. They analyzed data from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “Automation of Reports and Consolidation Orders System,” which monitors the flow of controlled substances.

“Among prescription opioids, codeine abuse is particularly high,” said study author Coleman Drake, who is also an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. He adds that the study’s results suggest people could use recreational cannabis as an alternative to codeine.

“Reducing opioid abuse can save lives,” adds Shyam Raman, another author on the study and a graduate student at Cornell’s Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. “Our research shows that recreational cannabis laws significantly reduce codeine dispensing to dispensaries, an overlooked potential benefit of legalizing recreational cannabis use.”

However, even when they saw a decrease in the demand for codeine, they did not see a significant decrease in the distribution of oxycodone, morphine, and hydrocodone.

“This finding is particularly telling,” said Drake. “While previous studies have focused on stronger opioids, codeine is a weaker drug with a higher potential for addiction. It suggests that people may be obtaining codeine from dispensaries for abuse and that recreational cannabis laws are reducing this illicit demand,” he adds.

Whether for pain or as a recreational drug, there are many benefits to replacing codeine and other opioids with cannabis.

Abuse of opioids can lead to hypoxia, a medical condition that develops when insufficient oxygen reaches the brain. As a result, people can suffer from slowed breathing, which in turn leads to brain damage or even a coma and eventual death.

Another recent review of longitudinal studies conducted by researchers from Montreal, Canada found similar results, that cannabis legalization laws were associated with a reduction in prescription opioid use. The review, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, involved the analysis of 32 longitudinal studies that assessed public health impacts in states with recreational cannabis laws and compared them to states without such laws.

“Most of the research articles on this topic were judged to be of high quality,” the researchers said. “Therefore, there is sufficient evidence to establish a potentially beneficial association between recreational marijuana legalization and prescription opioid patterns,” they wrote.

Cannabis over opioids

These are just a few of many studies that all share similar results. This is not surprising given that cannabis has so many more benefits compared to opioids, which are dangerous and addictive.

For patients struggling with chronic pain, cannabis is a more appropriate treatment. A study conducted by researchers from the State University of New York at Albany and the New York State Department of Health analyzed how medicinal cannabis affected the opioid use of 8,000 patients with chronic pain. These patients were prescribed opioids (long-term opioid therapy or LOT) and were followed for 8 months.

Researchers found that patients’ morphine milligram (MME) intake decreased after they were given cannabis. These statistics were found to decrease even further over time. “In this cohort study of patients receiving LOT, prolonged use of MC (medical cannabis) was associated with a reduction in opioid dosage,” the researchers wrote. “These results provide robust evidence for clinicians regarding the potential benefits of CD in reducing opioid exposure for patients receiving LOT and potentially reducing their risk of overdose,” the researchers wrote.

Meanwhile, another January study reported that nearly 1 in 3 patients with chronic pain turns to marijuana for treatment. In addition, many of them do this as an alternative to opioids. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who surveyed 1,724 adults with chronic pain living in states with medical cannabis laws.

Given the consistency of these results, it’s clear that patients are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of marijuana as well as the risks of opioids. Whether you need medication or a recreational drug, cannabis is always the safer alternative.

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