Cannabis Vs Opioids

How to use Marijuana to reduce and Replace Opioid Medication

The opioid epidemic is amongst the most significant healthcare crisis nowadays. In 2015 alone, the economic cost of opioids in the USA was projected at more than $500 billion.

The immensity and randomly mortal nature of opioid crisis are unparalleled; currently, in the US, many people are now dying from drug overdoses when compared to gun violence or motor vehicle accidents. One of the reasons for opioid overdose crisis is the doctor’s prescription pad. Excess prescription of narcotics (abundant pills or refills) and “doctor shopping” (changing doctors when one won’t refill a prescription) is a common factor.

In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a new set of opioid prescription regulations so that doctors could try to fix the issue. A suggestion to handle most cases of chronic pain with non-opioid drugs part of the guideline.

At the beginning of 2017, the National Academies of Science and Medicine (NASEM) reviewed an excess of 10,000 human studies to assess the safety and potency of cannabis for numerous diseases and symptoms. The NASEM undoubtedly stated that marijuana, a non-opioid pain killer, is a safe and potent treatment for chronic pain.

Additionally, researchers have been studying the joined administration of opioids and cannabinoids for decades. The combination of opioids and cannabinoids produce synergistic pain relief when taken by any species, using different routes of administration.

This means that marijuana modifies the pain relief provided by opioids. Therefore, patients need to take lesser doses of opioid-based medicines to gain relief from pain.

Studies have shown that patients lower their daily intake of opioids by a considerable margin after they start using cannabis. Research also indicates that Patients experienced massive enhancement in their day-to-day lives due to the ability of cannabis to lower the mental fog and other undesirable side effects of opioids.

Furthermore, when a US state legalizes the use of medical marijuana, the opioid mortality rate drops by 24.8% — and the percentage further increases for states that legalized cannabis a few years ago. Additionally, non-fatal opioid hospitalizations also fall by 23%.

These discoveries aren’t fascinating to the addiction recovery community, where anecdotal reports of using cannabis to stop opioids are widespread. Marijuana can reduce chills, nausea, intense pain, and mental torment linked with opioid withdrawal. The use of cannabis makes the user experience more tolerable symptoms during the first few days of opioid withdrawal, making the user remain in a sober state.

Opioid addiction also leads to negative mood or anxiety, which can only be treated by CBD alone due to its powerful anti-anxiety effects.

Each day, we all witness fluctuations in our mood. However, with prolonged drug use, that “baseline” constantly shifts downward. And while measures to restore it with drugs are being taken, it hardly returns to its actual state. Cannabis is unique because it offers euphoria and facilitates a positive mindset. Thus marijuana is also an essential asset that helps return mood to a balanced state. In other words, when you use cannabis, you experience fewer days of heightened anxiety that could lead to a relapse.