Association of Medical and Adult-Use Marijuana Laws With Opioid Prescribing for Medicaid Enrollees

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Overprescribing of opioids is considered a major driving force behind the opioid epidemic in the United States. Marijuana is one of the potential nonopioid alternatives that can relieve pain at a relatively lower risk of addiction and virtually no risk of overdose.  Marijuana liberalization, including medical and adult-use marijuana laws, has made marijuana available to more Americans. The potential of marijuana liberalization to reduce the use and consequences of prescription opioids among Medicaid enrollees deserves consideration during the policy discussions about marijuana reform and the opioid epidemic.

Do medical marijuana laws reduce addictions and deaths related to pain killers?

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Recent work finds that medical marijuana laws reduce the daily doses filled for opioid analgesics among Medicare Part-D and Medicaid enrollees, as well as population-wide opioid overdose deaths. We replicate the result for opioid overdose deaths and explore the potential mechanism. These findings suggest that broader access to medical marijuana facilitates substitution of marijuana for powerful and addictive opioids.