Legal Weed May Cut Opioid Use for Cancer Pain

A new study says prescriptions are down in states where medical marijuana is available

- JESS THOMSON

THE LEGALIZATION OF MEDICAL marijuana may reduce opioid use in cancer patients.

As of 2022, medical marijuana for pain relief is legal in 37 states and Washington, D.C. Living in these states is associated with a lower rate of opioid dispensing in patients receiving cancer treatments, a paper published on December 1 in the journal JAMA Oncology says.

Results of the study show that medical marijuana legalization was associated with a 5.5 percent to 19.2 percent relative reduction in the rate of opioid dispensing (i.e., the rate of receiving at least one opioid prescription) to adult patients aged 18 to 64 who were newly diagnosed with breast, colorectal or lung cancer and receiving cancer treatment.

The analysis involved 38,189 patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer, 12,816 with colorectal cancer and 7,190 with lung cancer. These three cancer types were chosen for the study because of the large number of new cases among those younger than 65.

Between 2012 and 2017, medical marijuana legalization took effect in 14 states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.