Con
Kenneth Finn, MD, President and Founder of Springs Rehabilitation, P.C., explained in his May/June 2018 article titled "Why Marijuana Will Not Fix the Opioid Epidemic," published in Missouri Medicine:
“There is currently a large and growing body of evidence showing that cannabis use increases, rather than decreases non-medical prescription opioid use and opioid use disorder…
Inhaled cannabis in patients with chronic low back pain does not reduce overall opioid use, and those patients are more likely to meet the criteria for substance abuse disorders, and are more likely to be non-adherent with their prescription opioids…
There is sufficient and expanding evidence demonstrating that medical marijuana use will not curb the opioid epidemic. There is further evidence that marijuana is a companion drug rather than substitution drug and that marijuana use may be contributing to the opioid epidemic rather than improving it.”
May/June 2018