From: deputydog23x@gmail.com   
      
   Med-Pot Patients Turn Away from Prescription Pills, Booze   
   BY PAUL ARMENTANO · FRI SEP 25, 2015   
       
       
       
       
       
   RSS   
   Patients with access to pot typically reduce their consumption of prescription   
   pills, booze and hard drugs, according to Canadian investigators who assessed   
   the habits of 473 legally recognized medical cannabis patients.   
      
   "Substituting cannabis for one or more of alcohol, illicit drugs or   
   prescription drugs was reported by 87 percent of respondents, with 80.3   
   percent reporting substitution for prescription drugs, 51.7 percent for   
   alcohol, and 32.6 percent for illicit    
   substances," they reported.    
      
      
   Rates of substitution were highest among respondents between the ages of 18   
   and 40. Patients using cannabis for pain were most likely to use pot as a   
   substitute for prescription drugs.   
      
   "The finding that cannabis was substituted for alcohol and illicit substances   
   suggests that the medical use of cannabis may play a harm reduction role in   
   the context of use of these substances, and could have implications for   
   substance use treatment    
   approaches requiring abstinence from cannabis in the process of reducing the   
   use of other substances," the authors concluded.   
      
   Their findings appear  this month online in the journal Drug and Alcohol   
   Review.   
      
   More Pot, Fewer Pills   
      
   The findings are not surprising. A recent evaluation of patients enrolled in   
   Arizona's medical cannabis program similarly reported that most respondents   
   used conventional pharmaceuticals "less frequently" after initiating pot   
   therapy. An assessment of    
   patients in Rhode Island's med-pot program yielded similar results.   
      
   A 2012 study authored by investigators at the Centre for Addictions research   
   in British Columbia also reported that chronic pain patients frequently used   
   cannabis in adjunct with opioids, resulting in "a greater cumulative relief of   
   pain [and] in a    
   reduction in the use of opiates." Clinical trial data published in 2011 in the   
   journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics substantiates this behavior,   
   finding that inhaled "cannabis augments the analgesic effect of opioids" and   
   that this "combination    
   may allow for opioid treatment at lower doses with fewer side effects."   
      
   Not surprisingly, states that permit medical cannabis access experience fewer   
   opioid-related fatalities and have seen a decrease in patients with opiate   
   addiction.   
      
   And Less Booze   
      
   Medical cannabis patient data from California also affirms that legal pot   
   access is associated with a "significantly lower" alcohol prevalence, as well   
   as lower use of other illicit substances. While definitive data regarding   
   whether cannabis may be a    
   substitute for booze is not yet available, a 2014 review published in the   
   journal Alcohol and Alcoholism postulates that such a relationship is likely.   
      
   "While more research and improved study designs are needed to better identify   
   the extent and impact of cannabis substitution on those affected by AUD   
   (alcohol use disorders), cannabis does appear to be a potential substitute for   
   alcohol," the author    
   concluded. "Perhaps more importantly, cannabis is both safer and potentially   
   less addictive than benzodiazepines and other pharmaceuticals that have been   
   evaluated as substitutes for alcohol."   
      
   (Photo Courtesy of Context Florida)   
      
   TAGS: STUDY MARIJUANA VS BOOZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS OPIOIDS PRESCRIPTION   
   PILLS   
       
       
   http://www.hightimes.com/read/med-pot-patients-turn-away-prescri   
   tion-pills-booze   
      
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