Bottom Line: Two studies examine the relationship between legal cannabis use and opioid prescriptions. One study examines state implementation of medical and adult-use marijuana laws with opioid prescribing rates and spending among Medicaid enrollees, while a second study examines prescribing patterns for opioids in Medicare Part D and the implementation of state medical cannabis laws.
Authors: Hefei Wen, Ph.D., of the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, and W. David Bradford, Ph.D., of University of Georgia, Athens, and coauthors
Related Material: The commentary, "The Role of Cannabis Legalization in the Opioid Crisis," by Kevin P. Hill, M.D., M.H.S., of Harvard Medical School, Boston, and Andrew J. Saxon, M.D., of the University of Washington, Seattle, and an author podcast with Drs. Bradford, Hill and Jason M. Hockenberry, Ph.D., of the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, are available on the For The Media website. The audio transcript is available here.
For more details and to read the full study, please visit the For The Media website.
(doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.1007)
(doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.0266)
Editor's Note: Please see the articles for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
# # #
Want to embed a link to this study in your story? Links will be live at the embargo time http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.1007 (Wen study) and http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.0266 (Bradford study)###
Journal
JAMA Internal Medicine