A study published in the Economics Bulletin journal is showing a correlation between active, legal medical cannabis dispensaries and decreased opioid mortality rates.
The study, Medical Marijuana Laws and Their Effect on Opioid Related Mortality, uses state-level data from the Centers for Disease Control to test the theory that medical cannabis is a viable substitute for opioid pain relievers and whether it helps reduce opioid deaths in legal states.
The authors of the study, Dr. Susan Averett and Emily Smith from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, examined the effect of medical cannabis laws and the presence of active legal dispensaries on age-adjusted opioid overdose death rates between 1999 and 2015.
The authors found that medical marijuana laws (MMLs) had little effect on opioid mortality without the presence of legal dispensaries.
“Our results suggest that states with active legal dispensaries see a drop in opioid death rates over time,” write the authors of the study. “Overall, this research provides evidence that states with MMLs may see a decline in opioid overdose death rates if they enact legal dispensaries.”
The authors state that their information should be useful to lawmakers who are looking to create policies to help reduce opioid deaths.
According to the study’s abstract, an estimated 12.5 million people misused opioid prescriptions in 2015, and 62,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2016.
