Could Marijuana Replace Opioids As A Painkiller? Experts Are Skeptical
The heavy marketing and widespread access to opioid pills sparked a national crisis that’s now labeled a “public health emergency” by the U.S. government. Last year, some 60,000 Americans died of drug (including opioid) overdoses—that’s some 12,000 more than traffic-related deaths in the same year. As physicians look for new, less harmful, ways to manage their patients’ pain, could medical marijuana be the answer–or the makings of another public health crisis?
That question was asked by an audience member at the Forbes Healthcare Summit in New York on Thursday. The idea drew immediate skepticism from Tom Frieden, who headed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under President Obama and now heads a non-profit, Resolve to Save Lives.
“The huge problem with legalization is that in the current legal context of the U.S., if you legalize a product you cannot restrict its market, and what we’re looking at is the prospect of having Big Tobacco paralleled by Big Marijuana actively promoting marijuana use,” Frieden said. “It could be very harmful for some people and some communities. That said, there may be a role for some individuals, and obviously this is a tough issue.”
Wilson Compton, the deputy director at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said that the National Institutes of Health is trying to support more rigorous research on medical marijuana. He said the studies out there today tend to be small and disparate with the different types of pain conditions that are looked into. “While it looks like there’s a general signal, we don’t know who the marijuana, or the cannabinoids within the plant, might be useful for,” Compton said. “And that’s where I think research needs to move.”
Medical marijuana is now legal in 29 states and the District of Columbia, and as that number continues to grow, more drug companies are looking for ways to use the plant and its potent cannabinoids to relieve pain. Several companies like publicly-traded GW Pharmaceuticals and Cara Therapeutics are developing drugs using these properties but none have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration yet.
But Andrew Kolodny, co-director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University and a critic of opioid overuse, said that at least marijuana would be better than opioids
“If I had a patient who was suffering from severe intractable pain and had tried everything, I would sooner try marijuana on a patient than heroin,”
Kolodny said. “When you are prescribing opioids, you are essentially giving them heroin.”
Filed under: General Problems
To IMG. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Obviously you have never used marijuana! It doesn’t destroy your senses like that and yes you CAN drive. Your statements are utterly ridiculous!
Maltese, you’re not seriously advocating someone who smoked pot to be behind the wheel are you? That’s like drinking and driving, except there’s no commonly known amount you can take and safely drive. Until that happens people are better off not driving after having taken pot.
Medical Marijuana can NOT treat severe chronic intractable pain. It’s only for mild to moderate pain, and doesn’t always work for that either. The statement when you prescribe opiates you’re essentially giving them heroin, is the most ridiculous and irresponsible thing any doctor could say, and Kolodny is NOT a pain doctor. He’s a shrink for cry’inout loud! He has NO qualifications in this field, and does NOT deserve to be doing any of the things he is doing.
MMJ left the people I know completely intoxicated, altered in a non-functional way, and one I know psychotic..and didn’t help the pain, they just didn’t care because so altered. No way could any of them get behind a wheel and drive…is that what they are after..altered beyond caring? With heart disease MMj can be dangerous as it raises pulse levels dangerously..well known side effect. The opioid medications leave them functional and not high.. the POT lobby is well funded. Is Kolodny funded by the pot lobby?
I think Kolodny would rather all chronic pain patients commit suicide. I can only pray one day he meets with an incident that causes him intractable chronic pain . I want to see how he feels about opioids then
I second that!!!!
Medical marijuana helps but for me leaves a lot of pain and I don’t like the high I get which I didn’t get from the high dose fentanyl and dilauded. It is a whole lot better than nothing!