cannabisnews.com: In States With MMJ, Painkiller Deaths Drop by 25%
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In States With MMJ, Painkiller Deaths Drop by 25%
Posted by CN Staff on August 26, 2014 at 04:44:50 PT
By Douglas Main
Source: Newsweek
USA -- America has a major problem with prescription pain medications like Vicodin and OxyContin. Overdose deaths from these pharmaceutical opioids have approximately tripled since 1991, and every day 46 people die of such overdoses in the United States.However, in the 13 states that passed laws allowing for the use of medical marijuana between 1999 and 2010, 25 percent fewer people die from opioid overdoses annually.
“The difference is quite striking,” said study co-author Colleen Barry, a health policy researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. The shift showed up quite quickly and become visible the year after medical marijuana was accepted in each state, she told Newsweek.In the study, published today August 25 in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers hypothesize that in states where medical marijuana can be prescribed, patients may use pot to treat pain, either instead of prescription opiates, or to supplement them—and may thus require a lower dosage that is less likely to lead to a fatal problem.As with most findings involving marijuana and public policy, however, not everyone agrees on a single interpretation of the results.It certainly can be said that marijuana is much less toxic than opiates like Percocet or morphine, and that it is “basically impossible” to die from an overdose of weed, Barry said. Based on those agreed-upon facts, it would seem that an increased use in marijuana instead of opiates for chronic pain is the most obvious explanation of the reduction in overdose deaths.Not so fast, said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, chief medical officer at Phoenix House, a national nonprofit addiction treatment agency. He said that the immediate reduction in overdose deaths is extremely unlikely to be due to the substitute use of the herb, for one simple reason: Marijuana isn’t widely prescribed for chronic pain.“You don’t have primary care doctors in these states [prescribing] marijuana instead of Vicodin,” he said. Even in states where medical marijuana is legal, it is only prescribed by a small subset of doctors, and, therefore, probably couldn’t explain the huge decrease in opiate-related overdose deaths.Kolodny says the study results are more likely due to a host of factors. One example is differences in state policies to cut down on over-prescribing of opiate medications. Also, many people who overdose on painkillers are already addicted, and these individuals are naturally among the most likely to take too much, Kolodny told Newsweek. States that pass progressive laws to treat addiction may be more likely to lower their rates of overdose deaths; for political reasons these states may also be more likely to legalize medical marijuana.“This is a good example of where policy change has gotten ahead of the science,” Barry said. She and Kolodny would probably agree on that point.Source: Newsweek (US)Author: Douglas MainPublished: August 25, 2014Copyright: 2014 Newsweek, Inc.Contact: letters newsweek.comWebsite: http://www.newsweek.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/x6GdWIzJCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on August 27, 2014 at 09:51:18 PT
Some of the pain killer deaths were, doubtless,
suicides, as well. We do know that some people that are drawn to suicide, can fend off that desire with a toke or two. Remember Robin?I don't have any doubt that some people had a terrible allergic reaction to some of these medicines from the start, even to the point of being poisoned and killed at first dose. But the thing that amazes me about pain killer takers is those that take way more than what is considered a safe dose. I remember those folks from the diet pill days, too.Why do they do it? Why do they take multiple amounts of what they are prescribed? Is it because it's not working? What makes them think more and more would work?This is wonderful that a policy researcher discovered these figures. That's what policy researchers are for! This is a stunning and remarkable, though not particularly surprising to those of us that have a clue.Will the policy makers pay any attention to what the researcher has discovered? Those of us, that have a clue, doubt they will. They've never paid any attention to the amazing comfort this plant can offer. Their only goal, sworn goal, right or wrong... obviously, is to stop people from enjoying or using the plant... even if they have to kill them to do it. That's why I tend to think of those policy makers, and their supporters, as sick... bent MFs. (MF doesn't mean "My Friends.)
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on August 26, 2014 at 21:38:44 PT
DEA Ratifies Spike in Marijuana for Research
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/08/26/dea-ratifies-spike-in-marijuana-for-research
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #7 posted by John Tyler on August 26, 2014 at 18:43:20 PT
Lowering violence…
Cannabis users know that peaceful easy feeling. Good thoughts create good actions.
Take if from the Eagles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3G2ob_gWp4
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Comment #6 posted by The GCW on August 26, 2014 at 18:22:56 PT
Never ending benefits.
Marijuana Lowers the Risk of Domestic Violencehttp://www.alternet.org/drugs/marijuana-lowers-risk-domestic-violence
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on August 26, 2014 at 16:14:01 PT
Very significant news.
When the lowly cannabis prohibitionist speaks, they harm fellow citizens.Steering citizens who are experiencing pain and would be using cannabis, toward Class A narcotics instead, is harmful and disappointing.I'm pleased to see this being exposed and expect it will help further end cannabis prohibition.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on August 26, 2014 at 15:03:03 PT
Comment 3
Huzza! Huzza!
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Comment #3 posted by observer on August 26, 2014 at 11:42:58 PT
Addiction ''Doctor'' In Deep Denial
Not so fast, said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, chief medical officer at Phoenix House, a national nonprofit addiction treatment agency. He said that the immediate reduction in overdose deaths is extremely unlikely to be due to the substitute use of the herb, for one simple reason: Marijuana isn’t widely prescribed for chronic pain.The mental gyrations of prohibitionists would be amusing - if not for the trail of dead bodies that inevitably follow their jail-people-for-pot profit model. When cancer rates fall due to pot: they assure us: "It's not the pot!" "It can't be medicine if it is smoked!" "Let's research the chemical compounds in pot someday - so we can keep mass jailing people over pot, now!"When highway deaths fall as pot displaces booze (pot is safer, as we all know), the pot-jail profiteers scream, "No! No! No! It might be because of something else!"re: "He said that the immediate reduction in overdose deaths is extremely unlikely to be due to the substitute use of the herb, for one simple reason: Marijuana isn't widely prescribed for chronic pain."And of course the goodly addiction-profit doctor is technically correct: Marijuana isn't "prescribed" at all - because (recall) the U.S. Federal government banned U.S. doctors from "prescribing" pot, period. If they "prescribe" pot they lose their license. They must "recommend" it (in writing). The weasel-wording doctor is good at verbal gymnastics, yes. But I do pity his court-forced "patients" who are getting his coerced, jail-threatening "treatment". How many years of incarceration for smoking pot does this doctor bear responsibility for? How many innocent pot-smokers have spent years in jail because of just this one treatment profiteer? Multiply that by a 100,000 similar Doctor Mengele wannabe profiteers. Like many NAZIs, he'll go to his death swearing that those marijuana addicts were helped by his ordering them to prison for a dirty (pot) urine test in his court-forced "treatments".
http://drugnewsbot.org
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on August 26, 2014 at 08:19:36 PT
I meant to say;
Drip, drip, drip like the Chinese water torcher...
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on August 26, 2014 at 08:16:09 PT
The debunkafication of marijuana myth!
Drip, drip, drip, like Chinese the water torcher, the media is now dismantling this frightful and misguided war on god's gift. A war on god's gift is a war on the giver! And mother nature is none to happy about this draconian ruse either! It has damaged her health and looks. Never mess with a woman's looks, you WILL have hell to pay!
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