Could Medical Marijuana Be Used To Treat Painkiller Addiction?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Prescription painkiller addiction is a growing problem in Minnesota and across the country.
The Centers for Disease Control says between 14,000 and 16,000 people die every year as a result of their addictions. Those addictions also often lead to heroin use.
Here in Minnesota, 342 people have died from heroin overdoses since 2000.
But now medical researchers think they've found a new way to help break the addiction. It's by using medical marijuana.
"People often die of opiates, and opiates are highly addictive. Those are two things, two characteristics, that cannabis does not have as a medicine," said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, the CEO of Minnesota Medical Solutions.
Kingsley is one of the two manufacturers of medical marijuana in Minnesota. He believes medical cannabis can help people who've become addicted to prescription painkillers, such as oxycodone, morphine, hydromorphone, and heroin.
"People think that it's swapping one thing out for another," Kingsley said, "but it's swapping out a much lesser evil for something that is killing 16,000 people a year. People are not dying from THC or marijuana overdoses."
In Minnesota, medical marijuana can only be sold as a pill, liquid or oil. Beginning this August, people with chronic pain will be able to get a prescription if they're certified by their doctors.
Many of those folks are already taking prescription painkillers.
"There's mounting evidence that cannabis in the setting of chronic pain helps people reduce their opiate use," Kingsley said. "And there is also some analysis that shows dramatic reduction in opiate-related deaths in states with medical marijuana."
This summer, Kingsley's company will begin an observational study with a minimum of 100 patients.
Dr. Charles Reznikoff treats addiction patients at Hennepin County Medical Center, and he says that there isn't currently a great way to get people off opioids.
"This cannabis program is an experimental trial, and I think people need to keep this in mind," Reznikoff said. "This is an experiment. This is not a proven therapy. If it works, that would be great. but we don't know if it will work or not."
The latest numbers from the Department of Health show there are now 1,190 registered patients who are using medical marijuana in Minnesota.
The number of health care providers certifying patients' conditions has risen to 527.
