Study says marijuana helping opioid addictions

New research provides evidence that cannabis may be able to help those who are addicted to opioids.

While traditional methods at drug rehabilitation programs force addicts to stay completely clean, centers report a success rate of about 30 percent. To address the low results, centers administer legal marijuana to contribute to reducing the amount of opioid use, which ultimately lessen the amount of overdoses.

U.S. News reported that Montana had a 1.7 percent reduction.Another benefit is that medical marijuana is a cheaper treatment. In Baltimore, health officials put together an aggressive plan to deal with opiod addiction, but it is too expensive to sustain.

Although numbers also fell in Colorado, some officials say that it is too soon to tell the impact of legalized marijuana and the opioid crisis.

Although state marijuana laws expand, federal legislators must catch up. The federal government remains in opposition of decriminalizing cannabis when it comes to public health.

Big Business of Cannabis

Marijuana stocks have soared as California has made selling pot legal for recreational purposes and the ability to posses up to one ounce of the drug. Massachusetts and Canada are also expected to legalize recreational marijuana in July.

In another part of the industry, the rise of marijuana lawyers or the practice of cannabis law expands across the US, as states slowly begin to pass laws and decriminalize marijuana use; others fight cannabis law and related cases. “Marijuana law, like entertainment law, is an amalgamation of other practice areas, including business law, administrative law, intellectual property, criminal law, employment law and tax law,” explained lawyer Neil Juneja.

However, the current Republican majority will not budge or address the issue. If Democrats dominant the 2018 midway elections then marijuana advocates are more optimistic about a shift in the conversation.

Nyeighsha Lord contributed to this article