We’ve learned about a couple of good medical benefits to marijuana this year and now it seems there’s another one: Using medicinal marijuana makes it less likely that you’ll become hooked on painkillers. CNN reports that a new study published this in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal finds that states that have legalized medicinal marijuana have significantly fewer deaths from painkiller overdoses.
FROM EARLIER: Could pot be good for your heart?
In all, the study found that states that had legalized medical pot experienced around 1,700 fewer painkiller overdose deaths in 2010 than what would have happened if those states didn’t make medical marijuana legal and available.
“We found there was about a 25% lower rate of prescription painkiller overdose deaths on average after implementation of a medical marijuana law,” lead study author Dr. Marcus Bachhuber explained to CNN.
Bachhuber, who also works as a PCP at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said that his experience with treating chronic pain has shown that doctors need to have as many options at their disposal as possible, although he also allowed that “it’s important, of course, to weigh the risks and benefits of medical marijuana.”
http://news.yahoo.com/science-just-gave-us-another-great-reason-legalize-011500877.html
this would come as no surprise to any of us here that have had to use prescribed opiates to manage pain when cannabis or mmj wasn't available. Since my accident in '04 I'd been put on a regiment of pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs, ALL of them having adverse side effects to my general health.
Also, I was found to be 'narcotic sensitive' which means that the opiates were too powerful for my system to properly assimilate causing me to puke nearly every time I took them to deal with pain.
For opiates to have their desired effect they need to be in the body constantly, pain maintenance; not to be taken only as needed for times of extreme pain. Cannabis on the other hand can be either used regularly to deal with prolonged pain or used as needed during elevated levels of pain/discomfort.
FROM EARLIER: Could pot be good for your heart?
In all, the study found that states that had legalized medical pot experienced around 1,700 fewer painkiller overdose deaths in 2010 than what would have happened if those states didn’t make medical marijuana legal and available.
“We found there was about a 25% lower rate of prescription painkiller overdose deaths on average after implementation of a medical marijuana law,” lead study author Dr. Marcus Bachhuber explained to CNN.
Bachhuber, who also works as a PCP at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said that his experience with treating chronic pain has shown that doctors need to have as many options at their disposal as possible, although he also allowed that “it’s important, of course, to weigh the risks and benefits of medical marijuana.”
http://news.yahoo.com/science-just-gave-us-another-great-reason-legalize-011500877.html
this would come as no surprise to any of us here that have had to use prescribed opiates to manage pain when cannabis or mmj wasn't available. Since my accident in '04 I'd been put on a regiment of pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs, ALL of them having adverse side effects to my general health.
Also, I was found to be 'narcotic sensitive' which means that the opiates were too powerful for my system to properly assimilate causing me to puke nearly every time I took them to deal with pain.
For opiates to have their desired effect they need to be in the body constantly, pain maintenance; not to be taken only as needed for times of extreme pain. Cannabis on the other hand can be either used regularly to deal with prolonged pain or used as needed during elevated levels of pain/discomfort.
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