User:Jenatchison2

The current standard of care in treating chronic pain in the United States relies heavily on the prescription of opioid medications. While these medications are effective in treating pain, they also come with a significant risk of dangerous substance addiction that often leads to substance abuse, further elicit drug use (heroin) that frequently ends in overdose and death. According to the CDC, in 2017 the U.S. reported more than 70,000 deaths related to drug overdose. Of this, nearly 50,000 involved opiates. This data is an increase of 12% from 2016, indicating a frightening trend (Scholl, Seth, Kariisa, Wilson, & Baldwin, 2019).

Medicinal cannabis has long been acknowledged to be effective in the treatment of many ailments such as anxiety and depression, glaucoma, and ADHD. Cancer patients have reaped the benefits of medicinal cannabis for pain relief for many years. The fact is, while there is mountains of evidence linking prescription opioids to further substance use, abuse, and addiction, there is no concrete evidence linking marijuana use to these issues. As a matter of fact, one recent study in 27 states, the legalization of marijuana is associated with a 23% reduction in hospitalizations related to drug overdose and a 13% decrease in opioid overdose (Beare-Vyas, LeBaron, & Gilson, 2018). Further, while it may be true that many people who are addicted to heroin may have used marijuana in the past, not everyone who uses marijuana escalates to further drug experimentation and/or addiction. Correlation does not equal causation in this case. It is time to remove the stigma from Reefer Madness days and evaluate marijuana for reclassification on the DEA’s drug schedule system.

References Beare-Vyas, M., LeBaron, V. T., & Gilson, A. M. (2018, January-February). The use of cannabis in response to the opioid crisis: A review of the literature [Article]. Nursing Outlook, 66(1), 56-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2017.08.012 Scholl, L., Seth, P., Kariisa, M., Wilson, N., & Baldwin, G. (2019). Drug and opioid-involved overdose deaths: United States, 2013-2017. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm675152e1.htm