New York reduces opioid consumption by 22% thanks to medical cannabis

According to a new study, adults with chronic pain who participated in the New York State (NYS) medical cannabis program were significantly less likely to require prescription opioids.

This study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine and conducted by researchers from the’Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, involved 204 adults who had been prescribed opioids for chronic pain and who had recently obtained a medical cannabis certification between September 2018 and July 2023.

Participants were followed for 18 months, and data on their cannabis and opioid use were collected from the New York State Prescription Monitoring Program.

At the start of the study, most participants reported to suffer from severe pain and take an average daily dose of opioids equivalent to 73.3 mg of morphine. During the 18-month follow-up period, the average daily dose fell to 57 mg, a reduction of 22%.

Participants who received a 30-day supply of medical cannabis consumed the equivalent of 3.5 mg less morphine per day than those who did not receive cannabis during the same month.

«Chronic pain and opioid addiction are two of the the most pressing public health challenges in the United States », said Dr. Deepika E. Slawek, the study's lead author, an associate professor of medicine at Einstein and a specialist in internal medicine and addiction medicine at Montefiore.»

«Our findings indicate that medical cannabis, when distributed as part of a a system overseen by pharmacists, », can relieve chronic pain while significantly reducing patients' dependence on prescription opioids."

«The supervised use of medical cannabis could be an important tool in the fight against the opioid crisis.»

The authors argue that these findings have «significant public health implications» for medical cannabis programs and support a «medicalized model» that involves the participation of pharmacists in medical cannabis dispensaries, as opposed to models that make no distinction between medical use and adult recreational use.

Dr. Julia Arnsten, the study’s lead author, chief of general internal medicine at Montefiore Einstein, and professor of medicine, epidemiology, and public health, as well as psychiatry and behavioral sciences, added: «This research adds to a growing body of evidence supporting a model medicalized cannabis use, in which pharmacists are actively involved in dispensing, and cannabis is treated like other prescription drugs.

«We hope these findings will lead to new policies that promote the effective management of chronic pain through the use of controlled substances.»

The research team is currently conducting a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of medical cannabis to reduce the use of prescription opioids among people suffering from chronic pain.