A study has discovered that medicinal cannabis does not effectively help people overcome their addiction to powerful opioids.
While advocates of cannabis claim that the drug can lessen people's reliance on opioids, researchers from McMaster University in Ontario reviewed six other studies and found that there is no proof using cannabis makes people less likely to take opioids.
Dr. Zainab Samaan from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said: "There is limited evidence that cannabis use may reduce opioid use in pain management. And some high-profile organizations have suggested cannabis is an 'exit drug' for illicit opioid use."
"But we found no evidence to suggest cannabis helps patients with opioid use disorder stop using opioids," Dr. Samaan added.
Opioids refer to drugs such as heroin, morphine, tramadol, codeine, oxycodone and fentanyl. These drugs are among the strongest painkillers worldwide and in the US, it is at the center of a prescription medication addiction crisis.
Previously, a study was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, indicating that the number of opioid prescriptions filled under Medicare Part D declined by 2.21 million doses annually in states where medical marijuana became available.
However, Dr. Samaan and her colleagues reviewed six studies of over 3,600 people and examined the effects of cannabis use during methadone maintenance therapy. The researchers found that people using cannabis during withdrawal treatment did not actually use fewer opioids.
They also discovered that using cannabis make them any more likely to stay in the treatment until completion. The study can be found in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
A similar study was previously published by Columbia University, which examined results from around 70,000 Americans. Dr. Silvia Martins, an epidemiologist at Columbia, said: "We tested this relationship and found no evidence that the passage of medical marijuana laws – even in states with dispensaries – was associated with a decrease in individual opioid use of prescription opioids for non-medical purposes."
