Opioid Abuse Takes Heavy Toll, Cannabis May Help
While opioids are useful and effective pain management medications, their use and abuse can lead to negative side effects, accidental and intentional death by overdose, and high costs.
Negative side effects caused by opioid use may include, but are not limited to, nausea/vomiting, constipation, dry mouth, sweating, and excessive sleepiness, and in rare cases, difficulty urinating, seizures, hallucinations, bad dreams, confusion, and itchiness. In the United States in 2012, approximately 16,007 deaths could be attributed to opioid overdose (72% of all pharmaceutical overdose deaths). In 2007, the financial impact of opioid drug abuse totaled over $55 billion.
Although abuse of and addiction to opioids post-prescription in the chronic pain patient population is rare (approximately 3.27% overall, approximately 0.19% for patients with no previous/current abuse/addiction issues before prescription), withdrawal symptoms may be severe and dependence/tolerance may lead to overdose deaths (as opposed to cannabis dependence, where withdrawal symptoms are mild and overdose death is virtually impossible ).
Additionally, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in October 2014 found that in states where medical cannabis is legal in the U.S., deaths due to opioid overdose are reduced by approximately 25%. [more]
