Be it due to injuries in road accidents or some other health problem, unbearable pain has always remained one of the conditions affecting the largest number of patients. And despite best discoveries in the medical field, pain management with safe medicines has remained a serious concern, previously for the doctors, and now for the Govt. also.

According to estimates, about 1/3 of the Americans are having severe pains. Most of the prescription medicines used for managing pains are opiates. This class of drugs include illegal heroin, synthetic opioids like fentanyl and the prescription pain relievers like Oxycontin, Vicodin ( codeine ) , morphine and many others.

Opioids killed about 50,000 Americans in all & 800 people in California alone in 2017. Los Angeles also, could not escape the tyranny of the opioid epidemic. But, due to legalization, medical marijuana doctors in Los Angeles, who have been recommending the cannabis to thousands of patients for treating pains, have helped in controlling the crisis to a great extent.

The result is, California has the seventh lowest drug-overdose death rate in America. Whereas the opioid related death rate at the national level is 13.2/100,000, on the other hand, it’s merely 3.1/100,000 in the County of Los Angeles.

Fentanyl is one of the dangerously giant killer opioids. It can kill a person even if consumed in a very small quantity. It kills those people most who have lesser tolerance for opioids.

Fentanyl has been a prescription drug for controlling severe pains for cancer patients for about the last 6 decades. Illegal fentanyl is also available on a large scale in all the States in America. It’s mixed with the other drugs like cocaine. That way, most of the people consume fentanyl unknowingly.

As of date, this problem has escalated to such a height that it has acquired a place in the niche of National crisis. The prescription opiate drugs that are used to relieve the patients from the severe pains have dragged the political parties and the health-care industry into painful crisis.

Factors: A $10 billion revenue concern to opioids manufacturers

Only in America, more than 115 people are losing their lives every day because of overdosing on opiates. Besides, the states spend several billion dollars on managing the opioid crisis & caring the patients who are affected by the side effects. Despite that the Federal Govt. appears to be lacking a political will to restrict the use of opioids.

One of the reasons is, pharma giants who have invested several billion dollars in opioid drug manufacturing have their own vested interests. They know that legalizing medical marijuana at the Federal level would indeed, hit their revenues of more than $10 billion very hard. They always lobby against legalization of medical marijuana.

How do medical marijuana doctors in Los Angeles help in containing the opioid crisis?

Medical marijuana is legal in California since 1996. The list of eligible critical conditions for treatment with the medical cannabis includes all types of severe pains. This enables medical marijuana doctors in Los Angeles & other parts of California to recommend the herb instead of opioids.

Medical marijuana doctors are well aware of the facts related to the misuse of prescription opioids. They know that the most of the patients get addicted to these drugs and succumb to its fatal side effects. They prefer recommending medical marijuana to opioids. 420 evaluations help in averting or at least minimizing the opioid epidemic crisis.