Study: Medical cannabis reduces alcohol abuse

A study conducted by Canadian researchers and published in the’International Journal of Drug Policy suggests that 43.5% of the patients who began using medical marijuana Those who sought to curb their harmful drinking habits were able to reduce the frequency of their alcohol consumption or stop drinking altogether. The researchers found that the number of days on which study participants drank fell from 10.5 to 8.

The study included information from the 2019 Canadian Cannabis Patient Survey from patients registered with Tilray. Of the 2,102 people surveyed, 973 participants reported having consumed alcohol in the past, and 44% of them (419) reported a decrease in the frequency of alcohol consumption over the past 30 days, 34% (323) reduced the number of drinks per week, while 8% (76) reported not having consumed alcohol during the 30 days prior to the survey.

Philippe Lucas, co-author of the study, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Victoria and vice president of global patient research and access at Tilray, said that the survey’s findings «add to a growing body of evidence that the use of medical cannabis is often associated with reductions in the use of other substances, including alcohol, opioids, tobacco, and illicit drugs.»

«Given that alcohol is the most widely used recreational substance in the world and that its use leads to significant rates of crime, morbidity, and mortality, these findings may lead to an improvement in the health status of patients treated with medical cannabis, as well as to an overall improvement in public health and safety,» said Philippe Lucas in a press release.

Other studies have found links between cannabis use and reduced alcohol consumption. A study by the’Oregon State University A report published in January revealed that the rates of excessive alcohol consumption among students were reduced in states where cannabis was legalized. A study published last year found that rates of excessive alcohol consumption 9% were lower than the national average in those states.