Fewer Pain Pill Overdoses In States With Legal Medical Marijuana

States that have legalized marijuana for medical use have lower rates of prescription painkiller overdose deaths than states that have not, new research suggests.In a study published Monday in the latest issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that although overdose deaths from opioid painkillers -- like OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin -- have increased in the U.S. over the course of the last decade, they were 25 percent lower in states that implemented medical marijuana laws than other states. The reason for the association was unclear. The study was led by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
"Prescription drug abuse and deaths due to overdose have emerged as national public health crises," Colleen L. Barry, senior author of the study and associate professor in the health policy and management department at the Bloomberg School, said in a statement. "As our awareness of the addiction and overdose risks associated with use of opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin grows, individuals with chronic pain and their medical providers may be opting to treat pain entirely or in part with medical marijuana, in states where this is legal."
The researchers used death certificate data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine the rate of opioid overdose deaths between 1999 and 2010 in all 50 states. They then took a close look at the states that had implemented medical marijuana laws during that same period.

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I know the study states the association was unclear, but there are many other findings along these lines of decreased crime, "harder drug use (such as heroin, etc)", etc. Here is just another one to chalk up to the states that have taken a common sense route and legalized something that should of never been illegal in the first place.

TheDemSocialist said:

Read more @: Fewer Pain Pill Overdoses In States With Legal Medical Marijuana

I know the study states the association was unclear, but there are many other findings along these lines of decreased crime, "harder drug use (such as heroin, etc)", etc. Here is just another one to chalk up to the states that have taken a common sense route and legalized something that should of never been illegal in the first place. [/FONT][/COLOR]

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Police departments around the U.S., drug agencies in the state & federal governments and prisons of all sizes need a new cash cow other than a plant naturally found on this planet. The government has no inherit right to punish consenting adults from enjoying what this planet offers in mind expanding drugs, man. I stick with marijuana and I don't care what drug choices other people make - it's their one and only life, let them live it how they want. The only time law enforcement should involve themselves with drugs is when a person under the influence poses a threat to the people around them I.e. driving under the influence & distributing to minors.

Thanks for linking to this story. It does not surprise me in the least.

Our federal drug policy is completely irrational.