Illinois: opioid prescriptions can now be used to buy cannabis

Opioids, the opium-derived painkillers commonly prescribed by doctors, have become the leading cause of accidental death in the US, ahead of firearms and road accidents. In 2016, Trump declares opioid crisis «A »public health emergency". The following year, opioid overdoses reached a record 71,568 deaths. To stem the tide, Illinois came up with a radical idea: opioid prescriptions can now be used to purchase medical cannabis.

The opioid crisis

Highly effective against pain, these drugs are also extremely addictive. Originally prescribed to treat simple backache, rheumatism or chronic pain, the treatment can degenerate into a sometimes fatal addiction. In the United States, there are now more overdoses among chronic pain sufferers than among drug addicts. More than a hundred people die every day from an overdose, and every 20 minutes a baby is born with opioid poisoning. Opiate addiction has become a veritable epidemic.

The subject was the subject of a report by Envoyé Spécial on France 2: Painkillers: America devastated. It was also the subject of the C à dire on France 5 with the participation of the ANSM director as well guest on France Inter to discuss the issue. This epidemic, although particularly prevalent in North America - Envoyé Spécial highlights the involvement of the powerful Sackler family, the creators of Oxycontin, now accused of being poisoners - is also spreading in Europe. In France, opioids have become the leading cause of death by overdose, with around three deaths a day and a thousand a year. These figures increased by 146% from 2000-2015.

In 10 years, the number of French people treated by #antalgics strong opioids, in particular #oxycodone has doubled. Overall consumption of weak opioids remains stable but #tramadol, #codeine and #opium have increased1TP5Pain Relief

▶️ Read the report: https://t.co/JQ4qnpiYhJ pic.twitter.com/0hxVRBdYa5

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- ANSM (@ansm) February 26, 2019

Cannabis: an effective alternative

Medical cannabis has gradually established itself as a viable alternative to opiates. In Michigan, for example, patients who use it are satisfied and even prefer cannabis to traditional medicines. Cannabis is also becoming increasingly popular in the sporting world: Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors (NBA) said prefer cannabis to opioids. Cannabis may even be effective against opioid addiction itself: in Vancouver a combination of gives cannabis away for free to combat the growing number of overdoses.

In states where cannabis is legal - they are now 32 to have legalized medical cannabis - chronic pain top the list of cannabis prescriptions. Not all states allow its use to treat chronic pain, but the vast majority do. Patients can thus choose a drug with fewer side effects and less addictive potential. Opiates have depressant effects on the nervous and respiratory systems, causing addiction and overdose. Cannabis does have side-effects such as drowsiness and confusion, but these are not the only ones. it can't cause an overdose.

In Illinois, cannabis replaces opiates

As can be seen in data from the Illinois Department of Health, the epidemic has not spared the state: while the rate of heroin overdoses doubled between 2013 and 2016, the rate of opioid overdoses quadrupled, and that of overdoses involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl increased 10-fold. In all, 80% of overdoses in 2016 were opioid-related, claiming almost 2,000 lives - twice as many as road accidents.

The Illinois medical cannabis program includes a total of 54,494 patients since inception in 2014. This is a relatively broad program (41 diseases) but difficult to access due to a complex procedure. Last August, however, the state's governor, Bruce Rauner, signed an Opioid Alternative Act that makes it possible to use an opioid prescription to buy medical cannabis. This new program took effect at the end of January. The initiative leaves the choice of medication to the patient, thus circumventing doctors' reluctance to prescribe cannabis.