Science & Health
Marijuana Helps People Reduce Opioid Consumption And Curbs Withdrawals, Federally Funded Study Finds
Marijuana can help people reduce use of unregulated opioids and manage withdrawals from those substances, according to a new federally funded study.
The research, published in the Journal of Cannabis Research, surveyed 197 people in Vancouver, Canada who reported using both cannabis and unregulated opioids such as fentanyl or heroin.
There was a “significant association between self-reported use of cannabis to manage unregulated opioid withdrawal and reductions in opioid use among cannabis-using [people who use unregulated opioids] living with pain,” the study found.
The relationship between cannabis use and withdrawal management with reduced opioid consumption was especially strong among people experiencing moderate or severe pain.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and the University of California, Los Angeles, found that about half of participants (45.2 percent) said they had used cannabis to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms during the past six months.
Of those participants, 66.3 percent agreed that when they used cannabis, they did not need to consume as much of the opioids they were taking.
After adjusting for factors such as age, gender, race and pain levels, researchers determined that using marijuana to manage withdrawal was associated with more than twice the odds of reporting reduced opioid use.
“Cannabis use for opioid withdrawal was significantly associated with self-reported reductions in opioid use.”
Among those with moderate or severe pain, people who used cannabis for withdrawal had more than six times the odds of reducing opioid consumption compared with those who did not use marijuana for that purpose.
The study authors said the research represents the first quantitative analysis that specifically examined the relationship between intentional marijuana use for opioid withdrawal management and changes in unregulated opioid consumption.
Prior research has looked at whether cannabis can treat individual withdrawal symptoms such as pain, anxiety and insomnia—while other studies have examined the link between marijuana use and reduced opioid cravings, for example.
By contrast, relatively little research has investigated whether people who deliberately use cannabis for withdrawal subsequently reduce the amount of opioids they consume.
“Our findings contribute to this growing body of evidence and demonstrate that intentional cannabis use to mitigate symptoms of unregulated opioid withdrawal may support reductions in opioid use, especially among people living with pain,” the study authors wrote.
Between December 2019 and November 2021, participants who reported using cannabis during the past six months were invited to complete a questionnaire about their marijuana use, motivations for consuming it and perceived effects on their use of other substances.
Overall, 112 participants (56.9 percent) said they used fewer opioids during periods of cannabis consumption.
“Importantly, cannabis is associated with markedly lower risks of morbidity and mortality compared to unregulated opioids,” the study said.
“Immediate efforts to improve access to legal cannabis—especially for structurally-marginalized [people who use drugs] at highest risk of overdose—may offer a step towards reducing the health and social harms of opioid use in Canada,” the authors concluded.
“These findings support conducting experimental trials of cannabinoids to support individuals experiencing opioid withdrawal and living with pain,” they said.
The study was supported with funding from both the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Relatedly, another recent study found that people with chronic lower back pain who don’t respond to traditional therapies such as opioids experience “large, sustained, and statistically robust improvements” when they switch to inhaled cannabis.
States that legalize medical or recreational marijuana see “significant reductions” in opioid overdoses among adults with employer-sponsored health insurance—indicating that a “substitution” effect may be at play—according to a separate federally funded study.
In that same vein, another study showed that, as opioids continue to drive overdose deaths, making medical cannabis available and affordable seems to help patients reduce their use of the prescription painkillers.
That research came on the heels of a recent study showing that using medical marijuana appears to help people reduce the use of other medications, including opioids, sleeping aids and antidepressants. They also experience far fewer negative side effects after switching to cannabis from prescription drugs, the study involving more than 3,500 patients found.
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About one in three Americans who use CBD say they take it as an alternative or supplement to at least one medication—particularly painkillers—according to a federally funded study published in February.
Similarly, another recent federally funded study, published by the American Medical Association (AMA), added more evidence that marijuana can serve as an effective substitute for opioids in chronic pain treatment.
Other AMA-published research has found that legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational purposes is “significantly associated with reduced opioid use among patients diagnosed with cancer.”
A separate paper published in October similarly found that medical marijuana legalization is “associated with significant reductions in opioid prescribing.”
In August, meanwhile, Australian researchers published a study showing that marijuana can serve as an effective substitute for opioids in pain management treatment.
Another study published last year in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review found that, among drug users who experience chronic pain, daily cannabis use was linked to a higher likelihood of quitting the use of opioids—especially among men.
Other research also found that legalizing medical cannabis appeared to significantly reduce monetary payments from opioid manufacturers to doctors who specialize in pain, with authors finding “evidence that this decrease is due to medical marijuana becoming available as a substitute” for prescription painkillers.
Other recent research also showed a decline in fatal opioid overdoses in jurisdictions where marijuana was legalized for adults. That study found a “consistent negative relationship” between legalization and fatal overdoses, with more significant effects in states that legalized cannabis earlier in the opioid crisis. Authors estimated that recreational marijuana legalization “is associated with a decrease of approximately 3.5 deaths per 100,000 individuals.”
“Our findings suggest that broadening recreational marijuana access could help address the opioid epidemic,” that report said. “Previous research largely indicates that marijuana (primarily for medical use) can reduce opioid prescriptions, and we find it may also successfully reduce overdose deaths.”
Another recently published report into prescription opioid use in Utah following the state’s legalization of medical marijuana found that the availability of legal cannabis both reduced opioid use by patients with chronic pain and helped drive down prescription overdose deaths statewide. Overall, results of the study indicated that “cannabis has a substantial role to play in pain management and the reduction of opioid use,” it said.
