The use of legalized marijuana to manage chronic pain seems to work for some people compared to most opioid painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin, and Percocet. This realization, and the ensuing legalization of prescription marijuana for medical use has, as reported by some researchers, reduced the deaths and overdoses that result from opioid painkillers ingestion. Whereas the reduction of prescription painkiller overdoses and deaths have reduced in States that have legalized medical marijuana, it is still not yet clear whether or not marijuana legalization is the sole reason.
Reasons adopted by the proponents of marijuana legalization being the sole reason for reduced painkillers overdoses and deaths
Manages pain better than opioid painkillers
Medical marijuana, where legalized, can be used as an effective pain management medication. People who suffer from chronic pain can, therefore, stop taking potent and addictive opioid painkillers; reducing the risk of developing an addiction for the same. A decreased risk of developing addiction reduces the risk of overdosing or even dying from prescription painkillers.
Less habit forming than opioid painkillers
Legalized marijuana used for managing chronic pain is less addictive compared to other types of marijuana and compared to Vicodin and Oxycontin among other habit-forming painkillers. The legalization of medical marijuana, therefore, reduces people's risk of accessing the harmful forms of marijuana, thereby increasing user safety. Additionally, the use of marijuana to manage pain erases the need for people to ingest increasing dosages of the already potent opioid painkiller; reducing the risk of overdosing and dying from lethal amounts of opioid painkillers.
Skeptics of the legalization of marijuana as reducing prescription painkiller overdoses
Some people feel that the legalization of medical marijuana is not the sole reason opioid painkillers overdoses and deaths have decreased. These people attribute the increased painkiller risks awareness as the reason for the decreased overdoses and deaths. Whereas they do not dispute the role of the legalization of medical marijuana in the reduction of opioid painkillers overdoses and death, they do not credit it entirely.
Some American States have recognized the medical benefits of one type of Marijuana. This recognition has been followed by the legalization of medical marijuana for pain management, which has been attributed to a reduction in overdoses and deaths that result from opioid painkillers use. The debate of whether or not legalized marijuana directly contributes to a reduction of prescription painkiller overdoses and deaths is still rife.
