Legalizing marijuana lowers demand for prescription drugs, study finds

[babylonsister]

Legalizing marijuana lowers demand for prescription drugs, study finds
“The reductions in drug utilization that we find could lead to significant cost savings for state Medicaid programs. The results also indicate an opportunity to reduce the harm that can come with the dangerous side effects associated with some prescription drugs,” one researcher said.
by Adam Barnes | April 18, 2022

Cornell University researchers analyzed data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in all 50 states from 2011 to 2019.

They found a decline in the volume of prescriptions targeting pain, depression, anxiety, sleep, psychosis and seizures in states that have legalized recreational use.

Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia currently permit the use of medical marijuana with a prescription.

Access to marijuana via legalization lowers demand for expensive prescription medications through state Medicaid programs, according to a new study.

snip//

“These results have important implications,” Shyam Raman, a doctoral student in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, said in a news release.

“The reductions in drug utilization that we find could lead to significant cost savings for state Medicaid programs. The results also indicate an opportunity to reduce the harm that can come with the dangerous side effects associated with some prescription drugs,” Raman added.

more...

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/3271896-legalizing-marijuana-lowers-demand-for-prescription-drugs-study-finds/

[aocommunalpunch]

1. $$$d interests don't give a fuck

This is just beyond stupid.

[Emile]

2. Happy 4/20!

[obamanut2012]

14. Same to you!!!!!

[tirebiter]

3. Decriminalization allows me to not care what moneyed interests think

I am almost constantly in pain from sciatica and the surgery. My doc can let me have oxy or Norco but I’ve found extra strength tablets of indica 20 mg to be a good additive and sometime alternative. One tab can put me asleep in less than an hour and that is a relief. Not a cure, that’s in the physical therapy.

[jfz9580m]

6. It is definitely genuinely therapeutic and it is shame it has not yet been decriminalized

I would so prefer it to dealing with stresses with ugh alcohol or being high on life alone ;-/...

[Unwind Your Mind]

23. Schedule 1 is such BS

There’s obviously tons of evidence of therapeutic use.

Me, I have migraines, just occasionally but I can’t take pills because I can’t keep even a sip of water in my stomach. The only things that helps is to dig out the pipe. Then I can sleep and usually feel better when I wake up. Anecdotal of course but I think it helps with severity and duration too.

[Auggie]

4. Won't be surprised when big pharma someday monopolizes legal cannabis

[Marcuse]

26. Or Big Tobacco.

[sarcasmo]

5. Pharmaceutical companies are why we don't have legalization.

[Emile]

7. Politicians who I blame. They are the ones

taking the dirty money and giving a finger to their voters.

[tirebiter]

8. I do here in California. My wife preferred medicalization

Neither of which were granted. It takes work and it can be done. Choose your destiny. We are as gods, so we might as well get good at it.

[OldBaldy1701E]

10. BINGO!

They refuse to allow something that could be produced in your own home. They refuse to allow the general public one minute of relief that they don't get a massive payout for. Big Pharma needs to be taken down a few notches. Why have we not done it? Is it because we think they will take their pills and leave? Go ahead. There will be ten new pharmacies in the same building in less than a month. I am so sick and tired of this 'we are too important for you to do anything but bow to us' mentality in our corporations. Especially when we know damned well that any business is replaceable. I know that, these days, society is just a small part of business, but I prefer the days when business was just a small part of society. You know, when corporations remembered who put them there in the first place.

[walkingman]

17. In Texas it is because of ignorance and supporting backwoods law enforcement.

[Joinfortmill]

9. Now we're getting to the root of resistence to legalization.

[roamer65]

24. +1000

[sop]

11. Legalizing marijuana probably lowers demand for alcohol as well.

[lagomorph777]

12. And that's why it's still illegal Federally and in many states.

Pharma can't allow that to happen!

[Calculating]

21. Exactly

This is why our government is so afraid to legalize it, doing would be a blow to big pharma.

[PatSeg]

13. K&R

[quickesst]

15. Louisiana..

.. finally introduced actual flower on January 1st assuring everyone the cost would plummet because of how cost-effective it is growing marijuana rather than producing the alternatives. It is now April 20th, and nothing has changed. I still have to pay anywhere from 70 to $100 for 6 grams. Seems any inquiry into the reduction in cost is pretty much met by a brick wall. The marijuana grown by the only two producers is not that great either. They have different names, and different levels of claimed THC, that to be honest, after trying multiple strains produced here, whether sativa, indica, or a hybrid, there's not much difference in its effectiveness to me. . I had access to much better stuff back in Arkansas, and the most I ever paid was $30 for a quarter of an ounce, or approximately 7 grams. Somebody's getting rich by targeting those who can least afford it, but need it the most. If you have ever been in a pharmacy, it is obvious that for the most part, it is not a high-end clientele, but rather mostly working class, and lower income people such as myself. They don't mind selling us marijuana as long as the payment is a pound of flesh. Vultures.

[Strelnikov_]

18. ..

[ck4829]

19. K&R

[IronLionZion]

20. Big pharma will fight legalization until they can find a way to profit

so until they can make cannabis pills or something to treat those issues at way higher prices, they'll keep on pretending that plants are more dangerous than highly processed pills.

[MagickMuffin]

25. Happy 4:20 and this is why Pharma has been very effective in keeping it illegal

Texas is not among the smarter states. OK, NM, AR, LA all have some form of legal cannabis on their books.

A hell of lot of lost revenue here in Texas. Oh well Greg Abbott makes up for lost revenue by his dark money and his political stunts.