! Study Shows More People Using Medical Marijuana In Place Of Pharmaceuticals
With the stigma around marijuana changing drastically, recent studies have found medical marijuana users were able to replace their use of pharmaceutical drugs with cannabis. The research comes as part of a study from the University of Michigan. Published this month in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, research showed that 44 percent of those who used medical cannabis were able to stop taking a pharmaceutical drug, use less of one, or both. Researchers surveyed 450 adult attendees of an event advocating for cannabis law reform.
Among 392 usable completed surveys, 78 percent said that they used cannabis to treat a medical or health condition. It also revealed that 42 percent of survey respondents had stopped taking a prescription drug due to their use of medicinal cannabis, while 38 percent reported that they had reduced their use of prescription medications. Researchers also found that “medical cannabis users reported a greater degree of use of medical cannabis and a greater degree of trust in medical cannabis compared to mainstream healthcare. In comparison to pharmaceutical drugs, medical cannabis users rated cannabis better on effectiveness, side effects, safety, addictiveness, availability, and cost.” Daniel Kruger, who is a member of the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation spoke about the research. He stated: “This study advances knowledge in the evidence-based approach to harm reduction and benefit promotion regarding medical cannabis,” he said.
