{"id":27346,"date":"2022-12-05T17:38:30","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T17:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabishealthnews.co.uk\/?p=27346"},"modified":"2022-12-05T17:38:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T17:38:33","slug":"medical-cannabis-legalisation-reduced-opioid-use-in-cancer-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabishealthnews.co.uk\/2022\/12\/05\/medical-cannabis-legalisation-reduced-opioid-use-in-cancer-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical cannabis legalisation linked to reduction in opioid use among cancer patients – study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cancer patients used less opioids to manage their pain while receiving treatment in states where medical cannabis was legalised, according to a new study.<\/b><\/h3>\n

The findings of the study suggest that medical cannabis legalisation was associated with a lower rate of opioid dispensing and pain-related hospital admissions among some adults receiving treatment for cancer.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The nature of these associations and their implications for patient safety and quality of life need to be further investigated, say the authors of the paper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers set out to analyse the link between recent medical cannabis legalisation in the US and changes in opioid-related and pain-related outcomes for adults with newly-diagnosed cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n

The prevalence of pain among this population is thought to be as high as 55%<\/a> during anticancer treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did the study work?<\/b><\/h4>\n

The cross-sectional study examined over 38,000 privately insured patients aged 18 -64 years with a new diagnosis of breast, colorectal, or lung cancer between 2012- 2017, who received cancer treatment during the first six months after diagnosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

They used commercial claims data to estimate the prevalence of opioid use among patients living in 34 states without medical cannabis legalisation by 1 January, 2012.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Secondary analysis then differentiated between medical cannabis legalisation, with and without legal allowances for retail dispensaries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Findings were measured by the rate of patients who had \u2018one or more days of opioids’ and \u2018one or more pain-related emergency department visits or hospitalisations’ during the six months after a new cancer<\/a> diagnosis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reduction in opioid dispensing<\/h4>\n

The results showed that medical cannabis legalisation was associated with a 5.5% to 19.2% relative reduction in the rate of opioid dispensing.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was also linked to a reduction in the rate of one or more pain-related hospital events from 19.3% to 13.0% among patients with lung cancer who had been prescribed opioids prior to their diagnosis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The authors of the study concluded: \u201cThis cross-sectional study found that medical marijuana legalisation between 2012 and 2017 was associated with reductions in the rate of opioid dispensing and pain-related hospital events in some privately insured patients aged 18 to 64 years receiving anticancer treatment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe findings suggest that medical marijuana could be serving as a substitute for opioids to some extent. Future studies need to elucidate the nature of the associations and their implications for patient outcomes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Previous research on opioid use among cancer patients<\/b><\/h4>\n

The findings are consistent with previous studies which have also suggested medical cannabis could act as a substitute for opioids in managing cancer pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

A study published earlier this year in <\/span>Frontiers in Pain Research<\/span><\/i><\/a> found that for most oncology patients, cannabis improved pain measures significantly, decreased other cancer-related symptoms and allowed them to reduce their consumption of painkillers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those behind the study suggested that cannabis may be carefully considered as an alternative to the pain relief medicines that are usually prescribed to <\/span>cancer<\/span><\/a> patients.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n