Medical Cannabis For Opioid Addiction

It does sound counterintuitive, to treat opioid addiction with medical cannabis, and that is to the fact that cannabis has been demonized ever since the beginning of the 20^th century and has been made illegal because of alleged claims that it causes violent behavior, has been “highly” addictive and it poses a stepping rock to other more potent drugs. Normally, this has been proven to be pure nonsense, since cannabis is no more addictive than lawn mowing and there are no proves of violent or any other unusual behavior. However, it is still illegal in many countries and states, and this is something that is changing to the better every day.

The world, especially well developed countries such as the US are recognizing the benefits of using medical cannabis in treating many diseases and conditions including chronic pain management, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia, anxiety and depression, cancer and many more new benefits emerge every day with new studies proving the claims.

The world is facing an opioid epidemic, and the first thing that came up to you is heroin, cocaine and other heavy drugs, but fact is that most of the people fighting opioid addiction are on pain relief opioids like hydrocodone (or Vicodin). And opioid addiction is a serious matter because more than 42000 people died from opioid addiction in 2016 only in the US, with different opioids including heroin, and this rate has increased five times since 1999! The lawmakers in Maryland are considering a bill that will explicitly legalize the use of medical cannabis as a mean of treating opioid addiction, a law that made it legal in other states like Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

Unfortunately there are not enough studies to support the claim that medical cannabis can be used as a treatment for opioid addiction, but there are some and the evidence is good enough to encourage experts to continue investigating. Medical cannabis has been used for chronic pain management for decades with high effectiveness, and studies have shown that it also increases the effectiveness of prescript opioids and that it can reduce the dosage of them to much safer levels. One such study reviewed data from Medicare and Medicaid patients and found that there is a 14.5 % reduction in opioid prescription in states where has legalized medical cannabis use!

Another study from 2018 conducted at the Department of Anesthesiology, Pain Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, has shown that medical cannabis could be able to help treat opioid addiction symptoms during withdrawal and cravings, solely because of the fact that human endocannabinoid and opioid system work closely and similarly.

Regarding the addition level a study published in 2016 in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that 8 percent of chronic pain patients become addicted to opioids, but still those same patients have higher rated of chronic pain compared to general population. While the data is still highly debated, the percentage of medical cannabis users who develop addition to it is still inconclusive, merely on the fact that users say they can live without it, but still use it daily for various diseases and conditions. The official data declare that every 1 in 10 users develop addiction to cannabis, data that is not being recognized by supporters of medical cannabis.

Medical cannabis helps opioid addiction in various ways:

44 % of chronic pain patients who used medical cannabis instead of highly addictive and dangerous drugs such as Vicodin stopped using the drug in seven months.
Medical cannabis can be used to lower the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, including nausea, anxiety, depression, insomnia and restlessness.
Medical cannabis increases the effectiveness of prescription opioids, thus lowering the dosage of drugs to safer level, and helps patients with chronic pain build up resistance. There is a 64 % drop in opioid prescriptions when they are being taken in combination with medical cannabis, and a stoning 27 % who got of prescript drugs completely.
91 % of patients dealing with osteoporosis, back pain and other chronic pain, and who have been using medical cannabis, would recommend medical cannabis to other unfortunate patients suffering the same or similar conditions.
There has been no record in any country or state of any cannabis overdose related deaths, compared to statistics that show many cases of opioid overdose deaths, still counting to millions!

If you are considering medical cannabis as a way of treatment to your conditions talk to your physician, he / she will guide you through the process. You need to know exactly how medical cannabis interacts with your prescript drug, and whether you can cut the drugs, because in some cases prescript drug is a necessary mean of treatment. In this case medical cannabis can help the effectiveness and dosage reduction, but it might not be safe or smart to cut down the drugs completely.

Your physician will give you the right strain of medical cannabis and observe your reaction to it, and will give the right dosage, or change the strain and find the one that suits your needs. There are various methods of taking medical cannabis, from the most preferred vaping, or classical smoking, to taking edibles, tinctures, oils and topical.

And the side-effects of medical cannabis are incomparable to those caused by opioids, but still you should be aware of them. They could include mild side-effect like nausea, anxiety, disorientation, sleepiness, and some severe as paranoia and short-term memory loss. In almost all cases the side-effects wear out in matter of hours!

In conclusion, medical cannabis probably will not save the world from opioid addiction problem, because of some many factors. The pharmaceutical industry will not give up so easily from the income of prescript opioids, and the culture in the world will not change so easily. Cannabis will still be demonized by many governments, and many more studies and trials will be needed before people come to realize the real potential of medical cannabis. But in good time, who knows, things might just change to the better.

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