Medical marijuana can help people manage their pain as well as reduce addictive opioid use, all with a low risk for abuse or dependence. Passing a state medical cannabis law on average reduced opioid overdose deaths by 24.8 percent, as published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Cannabis has a lower risk of dependence than any other psychoactive substance. It also has a low risk for abuse and diversion, especially in non-smokable form. There are currently over 30,000 patient years of data, mostly in randomized control trials using a cannabis extract as a sublingual spray called Nabiximols, for the treatment of pain and spasticity. Nabiximols is already approved in 27 countries. In this huge data set, there’s been no evidence of abuse or diversion.
J Pain. 2016 Jun;17(6):739-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2016.03.002. Epub 2016 Mar 19.
Medical Cannabis Use Is Associated With Decreased Opiate Medication Use in a Retrospective Cross-Sectional Survey of Patients With Chronic Pain.
