Weekly Stories, Studies, Surveys, Poll Results, Laws, etc.
Study: Opioid Prescribing Rates Fall Following Cannabis Legalization
Athens, GA: Cancer patients decrease their reliance on prescription opioids following the opening of cannabis retailers, according to data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Health Forum.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Georgia, Indiana University, and the University of Chicago assessed the relationship between state-licensed cannabis establishments and prescription opioid usage among commercially insured patients diagnosed with cancer.
Consistent with prior studies, researchers identified “significant reductions … in the rate of [cancer] patients with opioid prescriptions, the mean daily supply [of opioid medications], and the mean number of [opioid] prescriptions per patient after medical and recreational cannabis dispensary openings.”
The study’s authors concluded, “These findings indicate that medical or recreational cannabis laws may be significantly associated with reduced opioid use among patients diagnosed with cancer … [and that] cannabis may be a substitute for opioids in the management of cancer-related pain.”
Several studies have previously identified an association between cannabis legalization and reductions in opioid-related mortality.
Separate data published by JAMA Network Open reports that nearly one in three patients with chronic pain use cannabis as an analgesic agent and that many of them substitute it in place of opioids. v
Full text of the study, “Cannabis laws and opioid use among commercially insured patients with cancer diagnoses,” appears in JAMA Health Forum.
Ohio: House Lawmakers Approve Legislation Repealing Key Provisions of Voter-Approved Marijuana Legalization Law
Columbus, OH: House lawmakers decided on Wednesday in favor of a substitute version of Senate Bill 56, which makes numerous changes to the state’s voter-approved adult-use marijuana legalization law.
The Republican-spearheaded bill amends existing law in several ways. It stipulates that consumers cannot legally possess cannabis products sourced from out of state, including products legally purchased at licensed dispensaries in neighboring jurisdictions. No other legalization state imposes such restrictions.
It also repeals provisions currently protecting adult-use consumers from facing either workplace or professional disciplinary action, as well as other forms of discrimination based solely upon their private marijuana use. It restricts consumers who home-cultivate cannabis from harvesting more than 2.5 ounces of total flower, and it imposes felony penalties for those who grow more than six plants at one time. It imposes new arbitrary limits on the percentages of THC permitted in adult-use and medical cannabis products and it caps the total number of retail licenses permitted statewide.
Other provisions in the legislation create an expedited pathway for those seeking to expunge past marijuana-related convictions, regulate the sale of certain hemp-derived products, and redirect a portion of tax revenues from marijuana sales to individual municipalities that license cannabis retailers.
NORML has vociferously lobbied against proposed changes to Ohio’s adult-use marijuana law, which was approved in 2023 by 57 percent of voters. NORML’s action alert opposing SB 56 has been shared with lawmakers over 18,000 times. It states: “This bill is a slap in the face to the millions of Ohioans who voted in favor of Issue 2. Once again, politicians are arrogantly trying to claim that the public didn’t know what they were voting for.”
A commentary authored by NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano and Political Director Morgan Fox, published in The Columbus Dispatch, opined: “Lawmakers had years to craft legislation regulating Ohio’s adult-use marijuana market. They chose not to do so, instead leaving the decision up to the electorate. Legislators do not have the right to play Monday morning quarterback now simply because most Ohioans voted in a way they disapprove of.”
The legislation now returns to the Senate, which initially proposed even more comprehensive changes to the law. If Senators fail to approve the House’s amended version of the bill, it will be advanced to a conference committee for further debate.
“NORML is asking all Ohioans who care about personal freedom and the rights of voters to urge the legislature to reject SB 56 in its current form,” said Fox. “This isn’t what Ohioans voted for, and the fact that this bill is being rushed through the legislature, with almost no opportunity for public comment, indicates that lawmakers know they are undermining the will of the voters. Regardless of where one stands on cannabis issues, everyone should be outraged at this.”
NORML’s legislative alert opposing Ohio’s Senate Bill 56 is available from NORML’s Take Action Center.
Analysis: Consumers Self-Titrate When They Encounter More Potent Cannabis Products
Hanover, NH: Consumers regulate their cannabis intake based upon the potency of the product they are consuming, according to data published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
Researchers affiliated with Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire and Columbia University in New York assessed consumers’ self-reported use of lower-potency cannabis flower and higher-potency cannabis concentrates.
Consistent with prior research, investigators reported, “[T]hose who use both flower (i.e., lower potency product) and dab concentrates (i.e., higher potency product) tend to use greater amounts of flower than concentrates, and the median amount of flower used among flower-only consumers is consistently larger than the median amount of concentrates used among concentrate-only consumers.”
Researchers also reported that more experienced consumers are more likely to gravitate toward more potent products, arguably due to “their higher tolerance.”
The study’s authors concluded: “Results suggest that cannabis consumers self-titrate when switching between flower and concentrate product types. … Understanding self-titration is critical for developing evidence-based regulatory strategies.”
The study’s findings come at a time when some state lawmakers are calling for the imposition of arbitrary caps on the percentage of THC permissible in certain retail cannabis products. NORML has pushed back against the imposition of THC caps – opining that cannabis products, regardless of THC potency, cannot cause lethal overdose or organ toxicity, that consumers regulate their ingestion of more potent products accordingly, and that re-criminalizing select cannabis products relegates their production and sale exclusively to the unregulated marketplace.
Full text of the study, “Self-titration of cannabis consumption: An epidemiological perspective,” appears in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
Florida: Health Officials Move To Revoke Medical Cannabis Access for Those With Certain Drug Convictions
Tallahassee, FL: Health officials are actively identifying and revoking patients’ access to state-authorized medical cannabis products, as required by legislation signed into law earlier this year.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in July mandating state officials to “immediately suspend the registration” of any state-registered patient or caregiver convicted of “trafficking in the sale, manufacture, or delivery of, or possession with intent to sell, … of a controlled substance.” Some 925,000 Floridians are registered in the state’s medical cannabis access program.
Last week, a representative of the state’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use told lawmakers that the agency is complying with the law and that it intends to take action against patients “that meet the new requirement for revocation.”
NORML actively opposed the law change. NORML members generated hundreds of emails to lawmakers opposing the new restrictions, opining: “Patients do not lose their access to opioids and other traditional medications based on past convictions. They should not lose their access to medical cannabis either.”
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