The research seems to be clear at this point. Public Health will improve via medical cannabis. While arguments can be made against this notion in adult-use (so called “recreational”) markets, it seems clear that medical cannabis specifically has little downside.
Experts mainly cite the potential for underage abuse, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of this in a medical market. This seems reasonable given that medical patients will understand the medical value and be less likely to divert their allotment of medical cannabis to non-medical patients.
Cannabis has a very wide window of therapies and can replace or reduce a great number of prescriptions; most notably among them are opioids. While cannabis has a relatively small 9% change for creating dependence, opioids prescribed for only a 5-day treatment has over a 10% chance of leading to dependence. This number only climbs the longer one takes opioids.
It doesn’t stop with opioids either. Patients surveyed are using less NSAIDs, SSRIs, and Benzodiazepenes. Reducing the use of addictive substances and substances with severe side effects is a clear win. It also makes it clear why pharmaceutical companies are very much against cannabis as a medicine.
Further reading:
Doctors for Cannabis Regulation
DrugAbuse.com
HealthAffairs.org
UPMC Health Beat
From Visually.
From Visually.