Marijuana - A Life Saver?

Post Reply New Topic

Well, basically what the title insinuates...

A scientific study was just published in Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA) investigating the association between medical marijuana laws and deaths from opioid (prescription pain killer) overdoses.

From the abstract:

Source:
Bachhuber MA, Saloner B, Cunningham CO, Barry CL. Medical Cannabis Laws and Opioid Analgesic Overdose Mortality in the United States, 1999-2010. JAMA Intern Med. Published online August 25, 2014. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.4005.

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article ... id=1898878
http://media.jamanetwork.com/news-item/ ... uana-laws/

When converted to raw numbers, the authors of the study found (see the 2nd link) that there were about 1,729 fewer deaths than expected in states with medical marijuana laws. Furthermore, the study also finds that the effect has become larger over time: In 2010 (the last year in the study), the reduction in mortality was even higher at 33 percent.

The most plausible causal mechanism (absent some confounding variable) for the reduction in mortality is of course that people in these states tend to use medical marijuana instead of opioid drugs, and thus put themselves at lower risk of death from overdose. It is well established that it is basically impossible to ingest a lethal dose of cannabis, and attempts to extrapolate the lethal dose from studies on animals to humans usually yield hilarious results.

The study is - to my knowledge - the first investigating this particular link, and the authors caution against drawing too firm conclusions about the causality (see the 2nd link).

Nonetheless, the sheer magnitude of annual drug overdose deaths in the US suggests that the continued criminalization of cannabis (for medical purposes, at least) may carry a substantial death toll.

According to the CDC, there were 16,917 opioid overdose deaths in the US in 2011, or 41 percent of all drug overdose deaths in the US in 2011. Furthermore, drug overdose mortality has been rising rapidly, and has more than doubled in the last decade.
http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationals ... facts.html

This suggests - if the link between legalization and lower mortality holds - that there could be a massive life saving potential from expanding medical marijuana laws.

It is not too far-fetched, either, to envision that the legalization of recreational marijuana may cause similar reductions in lethal opioid overdoses, as prescription pain killers are also used for recreational purposes. However, given that recreational marijuana has only recently been legalized in Colorado and Washington, it will likely take some time before any conclusions can be drawn about this issue.

Please discuss.

Last edited by GGPViper on 26 Aug 2014, 3:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

That's great news I would have thought that people using opioids and cannabis together would be more likely to od so that would even out the figures. That's good news because it really is a massive problem. I wouldnt be surprised if there are fewer addicts of all substances as a direct result. Cannabis addiction is serious but I think most people will agree that it is nowhere near as life wrecking as a crack habit

in the case of certain forms of severe childhood epilepsy, medical cannabis can directly and literally save children's lives:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciQ4ErmhO7g[/youtube]

I read about many deaths due to drug deals, so many more are dying just from trying to acquire the stuff.

It would be a lifesaver for all those serving time for weed possession.They should all be released,it would make room for murderers,rapists and child molesters.The real scary people.

Wound hurt my feelings any if they legalized pot and/or just dropped the war on drugs all together. Realistically, I can't see the war on drugs in general going away since there are too many empire$ that have been built on and around it. Legalizing weed alone for personal use does seem tenable, though.....

While it wouldn't change the conclusion, I would take issue with the term "medical marijuana." California's medical marijuana license is extremely easy to get, and very few people with one have any serious health problem. I've heard the same thing about Colorado's original law. (Dispensery clerks didn't even know how to answer medical questions, but knew a lot about the mood-altering properties of their products.)

Minnesota is the only state that I'm aware of that has a (sort of) real medical-use law, but the dispensaries aren't open yet.

So legalizing marijuana would save those lives, too.

Some weed is also tampered with. This is apparently pretty rare but its not unheard of for dealers to add various things to their weed or hash.

The cartel will add lead shavings for weight,some"wash"the weed in formaldehyde,gross.If it was legalized this would stop.And I'm sure all the old skool stoners remember the paraquat scare.

Lead?? Wow that's insane. Ive heard of some growers spraying their crops with cheap research chemicals for potency.

I imagine a lot of people would grow their own since it doesn't take much space and not have to worry so much about it being laced with undesirable ingredients.

Legalisation would provide a quality controlled and regulated source. I remember a documentary about "functional stoners" that actually showed thai or vietnamese illegal immigrants who were imprisoned in grow rooms to tend to the crop. Once the appointed term was up they were freed that is if they weren't carbonised in a grow room fire.

One problem the grow states have to deal with is renters that set up grows in a rent house.They f**k with the wiring for the lights,there's water damage,and maybe even mold from the moisture.

/\ That's a landlord and tenant related problem.

I've heard success stories of Doctors using entheogenic substances to treat opioid addictions, or of people using marijuana to help them overcome their own opioid addictions.

I watched a documentary a while back about a Doctor in British Columbia who was using ayahuasca to help treat people with drug/alcohol addictions and he was quite successful. Unfortunately the government made him stop because it wasn't an approved treatment, obviously, even though I don't think ayahuasca is technically illegal here. I'm not sure how they could make something like DMT illegal, since it pretty much exists inside every living thing, but that's how we roll I guess.