Medical Marijuana

In this file photo, marijuana plants grow at LifeLine Labs in Cottage Grove, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

More than 2.5 million Americans are addicted to opioid drugs (heroin and prescription painkillers), and opioid overdoses killed more than 50,000 people in 2016. Some medical experts and addiction specialists say marijuana could combat this crisis, citing evidence that cannabis can help addicts wean themselves off opioids. But others say there isn't enough scientific research to support that claim. Many recovery experts oppose addicts using any intoxicant, and say cannabis just replaces one drug addiction with another. What do you think?

PERSPECTIVES

Researchers say there are several ways medical marijuana could combat the opioid crisis. Giving people with chronic pain medical marijuana instead of dangerously addictive prescription drugs could prevent many people from becoming addicted to opioids in the first place.

Cannabis could also help current addicts. States where marijuana is still banned have higher rates of addiction and overdose, and in 2014, researchers found that states with any kind of medical marijuana law had a 25 percent lower rate of death from opioid overdoses than other states. Several treatment centers are even using marijuana to help people transition off more dangerous drugs, the way methadone is used to transition heroin users.

But treating addiction with cannabis is very controversial in recovery circles, because established addiction treatment programs like Alcoholics Anonymous oppose the use of any intoxicants in sobriety. Researchers also caution there have not been enough studies to firmly establish whether or not cannabis helps addicts successfully and safely.

But marijuana research in the U.S. has been hampered by the federal government's classification of the drug as a Schedule I substance, on par with LSD and heroin. Advocates say the real reason there aren't studies showing definitive evidence that cannabis can help people recover from opioid addiction is because we're really not allowed to study it. With deaths from synthetic opioids up 73 percent in just the last year, many say it's time for the addiction community to adjust its stance on pot.

Advocates point to the stark difference in the death rate between opioid users and pot smokers as a pretty good "study."

But others say marijuana is just not a solution - it's still a gateway drug.

It will. Very few use heroin without starting with marijuana. @NIDAnews is simply commenting on emerging research, which is their job. https://t.co/oNiJ4Z23kb — Kevin Sabet (@KevinSabet) May 1, 2017

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