Source: @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 02 Sep 2014 04:20:21 PST
Study: State Medical Marijuana Laws Associated With Lower Rates Of Opiate-Induced Fatalties
Philadelphia, PA: The enactment of statewide medicinal marijuana laws is associated with significantly lower state-level opioid overdose mortality rates, according to data published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine.
A team of investigators from the University of Pennsylvania, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore conducted a time-series analysis of medical cannabis laws and state-level death certificate data in the United States from 1999 to 2010 - a period during which 13 states instituted laws allowing for cannabis therapy.
Researchers reported, "States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws." Specifically, overdose deaths from opioids decreased by an average of 20 percent one year after the law's implementation, 25 percent by two years, and up to 33 percent by years five and six.
Authors concluded, "Although the exact mechanism is unclear, our results suggest a link between medical cannabis laws and lower opioid analgesic overdose mortality."
In a written statement to Reuters Health, the study's lead author Dr. Marcus Bachhuber said: "Most of the discussion on medical marijuana has been about its effect on individuals in terms of reducing pain or other symptoms. The unique contribution of our study is the finding that medical marijuana laws and policies may have a broader impact on public health."
Added co-author Colleen L. Barry in USA Today: "[The study's findings] suggest the potential for many lives to be saved. ... We can speculate ... that people are completely switching or perhaps supplementing, which allows them to lower the dosage of their prescription opioid."
Nationwide, overdose deaths involving opioid analgesics have increased dramatically over the past decade. While fewer than 4,100 opiate-induced fatalities were reported for the year 1999, by 2010 this figure rose to over 16,600 according to an analysis by the US Centers for Disease Control.
According to a series of clinical trials overseen by the University of California, San Diego, the inhalation of whole-plant cannabis is safe and efficacious in the treatment of various types of neuropathy - a type of pain that is poorly managed by opiates. Moreover, clinical data published in 2011 in the journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics reported that cannabis administration significantly augments the analgesic effects of opiates in patients with chronic pain.
A separate review published in the Harm Reduction Journal in 2012 concluded, "Prescribing cannabis in place of opioids for neuropathic pain may reduce the morbidity and mortality rates associated with prescription pain medications and may be an effective harm reduction strategy."
Full text of the study, "Medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in the United States, 1999-2010," appears in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Study: Marijuana Use Associated With Decreased Likelihood Of Domestic Violence
Buffalo, NY: Marijuana use by newly married couples is predictive of less frequent incidences of intimate partner violence perpetration, according to longitudinal data published online ahead of print in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
Investigators at Yale University, Rutgers, and the University of Buffalo assessed over 600 couples to determine whether husbands or wives use of cannabis was predictive of domestic abuse at any time during the first nine years of marriage. Researchers reported: "In this community sample of newly married couples, more frequent marijuana use generally predicted less frequent IPV perpetration, for both men and women, over the first 9 years of marriage. Moderation analyses provided evidence that couples in which both spouses used marijuana frequently were at the lowest risk for IPV perpetration, regardless of the perpetrator's gender."
Stated the study's lead author in a press release: "Although this study supports the perspective that marijuana does not increase, and may decrease, aggressive conflict, we would like to see research replicating these findings, and research examining day-to-day marijuana and alcohol use and the likelihood to IPV on the same day before drawing stronger conclusions."
According to a previous study published in January in the journal Addictive Behaviors, alcohol consumption - but not cannabis use - is typically associated with increased odds of intimate partner violence. Authors reported: "On any alcohol use days, heavy alcohol use days (five or more standard drinks), and as the number of drinks increased on a given day, the odds of physical and sexual aggression perpetration increased. The odds of psychological aggression increased on heavy alcohol use days only." By contrast, researchers concluded, "[M]arijuana use days did not increase the odds of any type of aggression."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Couples' marijuana use is inversely related to their intimate partner violence over the first 9 years of marriage," appears in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
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