The Presence of Cannabis Dispensaries and Reduced Opioid Deaths

"Our findings suggest that higher storefront cannabis dispensary counts are associated with reduced opioid-related mortality rates at the county level."

"While the associations documented cannot be assumed to be causal, they suggest a potential association between increased prevalence of medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries and reduced opioid-related mortality rates."

"This association holds for both medical and recreational dispensaries, and appears particularly strong for deaths associated with synthetic [non-methadone] opioids, which include the highly potent synthetic opioid fentanyl and its analogs."

"This study highlights the importance of considering the complex supply side of related drug markets and how this shapes opioid use and misuse."

Greta Hsu, University of California, Davis/Balazs Kovacs, Yale University

                    MedPage Today

 

A new study published in the BMJ medical journal (formerly British Medical Journal) this week points out that the presence of cannabis dispensaries has a pronounced effect on the incidence of opioid-induced deaths through overdoses. Where one legal storefront cannabis dispensary was established in an area, an estimated 17 percent fewer opioid deaths were seen to occur. With two dispensaries the decrease in deaths was even more pronounced at 21 percent, according to the study.

"The high rate of cannabis use for chronic pain and the subsequent reductions in opioid use suggest that cannabis may play a harm reduction role in the opioid overdose crisis, potentially improving the quality of life of patients and overall public health."

Canadian study, Journal Pain Medicine

Pot dispensaries impacts on public health.

The impression of the U.S. study suggests that using marijuana as an alternative to prescription opioids in pain management would result in improved health prospects. An earlier Canadian study found a "marked decline" in the volume of opioids prescribed across Canada since the legalization of cannabis in the country which found that "easier access to cannabis for pain may reduce opioid use for both public and private drug plans".

Canada legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes in 2018. Since that time, licensed cannabis retail outlets have appeared just about everywhere, particularly since the expansion legalizing cannabis for recreational use -- even while cannabis is still illegal under U.S. federal law, while an increasing number of American states have themselves legalized its use and sale, most frequently for medical use, but in some areas for recreational use as well.

Opioids, a class of drugs including heroin, prescription pain relievers like oxycodone and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl -- have been responsible for overdose deaths which incidence has risen sharply in other countries as well, besides the U.S. and Canada. Fentanyl, a particularly powerful pain killer, as well as carfentanil, even more powerful, have been the cause of the majority of overdose deaths in both the U.S. and Canada.

Highly addictive opioids represent over two-thirds of all U.S. drug overdose deaths in U.S. figures for 2018. In Canada, statistics indicate 17,602 opioid-related overdose deaths between January 2015 and June 2020. The impact that cannabis dispensaries have on the use, abuse and impact of other drugs in the past was the focus of the Canadian research, with mixed results. 

In contrast, the two American researchers focused on a more local level, in comparing data in U.S. counties that happened to have dispensaries, instead of studying statewide or nationwide data and their study took into account the number of dispensaries operating in each county, to determine the count of cannabis dispensaries relating to opioid deaths.

Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addictions