Jurisdictions that adopt adult-use marijuana legalization laws experience declines in opioid overdose deaths, according to data published recently in the Southern Economic Journal.
Researchers affiliated with West Virginia University, Angelo State University in Texas, New Mexico State University, and the American Institute for Economic Research in Massachusetts assessed the effect of state-specific marijuana legalization laws on opioid-related fatalities.
Investigators identified a “consistent relationship” between the adoption of adult-use legalization laws and decreasing opioid overdose deaths, with early adopter states experiencing the most significant declines.
“We find a statistically significant negative relationship between RML [recreational marijuana laws] and opioid overdose deaths. RML is associated with a decrease of approximately 3.51 deaths per 100,000 individuals,” the study’s authors determined. “This effect increases with earlier implementation of RML, indicating this relationship is relatively consistent over time.”
They concluded, “Our findings suggest that broadening recreational marijuana access could help address the opioid epidemic.”
Studies have consistently shown that patient populations typically reduce or cease their use of prescription opioids following their initiation of cannabis. By contrast, studies assessing the potential impact of cannabis legalization on opioid-related mortality have yielded more heterogeneous findings, with results often varying based upon the time periods selected for analysis.
NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “This new data assessing rates of opioid-related overdose deaths in both early-adopter and later-adopter legalization states provides greater clarity this complex issue. With more patients substituting cannabis for opioids for pain management, these findings can guide health practitioners and policy makers as they seek ways to better address opioid-related public health concerns.”
The full text of the study, “Because I got high? Recreational marijuana legalization’s impact on opioid overdose deaths,” appears in the Southern Economic Journal. Additional information is available from NORTML’s fact-sheet, ‘Relationship Between Marijuana and Opioids.’
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