Study confirms legal marijuana leads to dramatic decrease in prescription use, abuse

The journal Health Affairs released a new report in July which confirms what marijuana legalization advocates have been saying for many years: “legalized marijuana leads to less prescription drug use and abuse, as well as a decrease in Medicare spending”.

A research team from the University of Georgia looked at the 17 states where medical marijuana had been legalized (since 2013 and earlier) and found, “painkiller prescriptions, as well as prescriptions for other medication, dropped dramatically compared to states where medical marijuana remained illegal,” reports Red Dirt Report.

In those states, doctors prescribed fewer antidepressants, less seizure medication, and less anti-nausea medication. The researchers also found that Medicare was able to save $165.2 million because of the lower prescription drug use. It is estimated that if every state legalized marijuana, the savings for Medicare would reach $468 million.

From the article:

“The research appears to confirm legal marijuana’s status as the only solution to the United States’ painkiller epidemic that has cut a swath of destruction across the country. Opioid abuse has quadrupled since 1999 here in the U.S., which has justifiably spooked the doctors prescribing painkillers.
This has led to doctors prescribing opioids less often, pushing addicts towards illegal, black market heroin. The overdose deaths from heroin have skyrocketed, as the black market entrepreneurs push the narcotic wherever the demand exists, occasionally lacing their product with fentanyl, a deadly opioid with a potency 50 times that of heroin.”

For too long, Washington and her politicians have tried to find a suitable solution, all the while overlooking marijuana. But now, we have solid evidence that should pull us out of the dark. Evidence of the benefits of marijuana are so numerous that it should be difficult to ignore: it provides valuable income to states (the Colorado Department of Revenue show that marijuana sales by government-licensed stores in that state totaled nearly $1 billion in 2015, making marijuana almost as big as craft beer), it creates jobs, it alleviates chronic pain- safely, effectively and cheaply (comparatively), and it holds cures for those who were previously hopeless (seizures, cancer, etc).

Can you imagine what our country would look like if we could grow it in our backyards like we do lavender (an amazingly helpful essential oil) and oregano (another oil with antiviral and anti-bacterial properties)? If we could actively participate in our healthy journey?

If that were to happen, Big Pharma would lose a lot. According to the article, “A study released late last year by the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia found that 80 percent of the 473 adult therapeutic cannabis users gave up their prescription drugs entirely after using marijuana.”

And for the aforementioned reason, a plant that has never killed anyone remains illegal in many states.

But, let’s not give into dispair! That simply means we’ve got to continue our work. We all know (because we have seen the proof) that our voices are working: