Overview
- Two peer-reviewed papers from University of Georgia–led teams, in the American Journal of Health Economics and JAMA Health Forum, report associations between cannabis policy changes and lower opioid use.
- States that legalized medical cannabis saw a 16% average reduction in the share of patients receiving opioid prescriptions.
- Opening medical or recreational dispensaries corresponded with significant declines in multiple opioid measures, including prescribing rates, days supplied, and prescriptions per patient, with cancer populations specifically analyzed.
- Reductions were consistent across sexes, ages, races and ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups, suggesting broad effects across patient subpopulations.
- The studies use 2007–2020 commercial claims covering roughly 15–20 million enrollees annually, note small increases in NSAID prescribing, and caution that results are observational and should inform physician-guided pain management.