Given that most medical cannabis patients in Utah cite pain as their qualifying condition, there is always the nagging question of what they might use to relieve their pain had cannabis not been given the green light by voters back in 2018. An option that immediately comes to mind is opioid medications. But could opioids be on the way out?
A recently released study out of Augsburg University (Minneapolis, MN) seems to suggest as much. Its author has stated his belief that medical cannabis has the potential to become “more common in treatment ” of opioid use disorder.
By extension, it is reasonable to extrapolate that any such scenario would further indicate medical cannabis being more common as a pain treatment as well. How so? If we are looking to reduce prescription opioid consumption, especially as it relates to treating pain, medical cannabis could eventually prove the best option out there.
Details of the Study
The study in question combined a selection of academic literature and a survey among university students. After reviewing the literature, the author concluded that “cannabis has some efficacy in the setting of opioid and maintenance, as well as other therapeutic uses” – think pain here.
As for the survey respondents, 70% acknowledge believing that opioid consumption carries with it more risk of harm than cannabis consumption. A similar number of respondents acknowledged that medical cannabis can be used to manage pain along with making opiate withdrawal easier.
Some 65% said they personally knew someone who had used cannabis within the last year for an off-label medical purpose. This is to say they used cannabis medicinally, just not to treat a condition on an approved list.
A Valid Point
Despite the author’s literature review and survey responses, his conclusions do not constitute solid evidence that medical cannabis will someday replace opioid medications. His conclusions are conjecture, and admittedly so. Yet he still makes a valid point worth discussing.
There are Utah medical cannabis users who have chosen cannabis over opioid pain meds. Some of them made the transition to medical cannabis specifically because they did not want to take opioids any longer. Their decisions are not without merit.
There have been numerous studies over the years clearly demonstrating that some people find more pain relief through medical cannabis then opioids. We also know that some people do not tolerate opioids well while others simply don’t like the way the drugs make them feel. And of course, there is no debating the ongoing opioid crisis. It continues all around us despite our best efforts to stop it.
The State Acknowledges Its Effectiveness
Adding further evidence in support of the author’s conclusions is the state of Utah itself. A number of years ago, lawmakers added pain to the list of qualifying conditions. But in order for acute pain to qualify for medical cannabis treatment, the patient’s medical provider must acknowledge that the pain would otherwise be treated with opioids.
Language on the Utah DHHS website specifically states that medical cannabis can be recommended for “acute pain that is expected to last for 2 weeks or longer for an acute condition, including a surgical procedure, for which a medical professional may generally prescribe opioids for a limited duration.”
There it is, in writing. The language clearly suggests that medical cannabis is an appropriate alternative to opioid medications. So who knows? Maybe the study’s author is correct. Perhaps there will come a day when medical cannabis is more common as a pain treatment than opioid medications. It is hard to see a downside to that. What do you think?
