A recent study using Medicaid enrollee data showed that medical marijuana laws and adult-use marijuana laws were associated with lower opioid prescribing rates. A second study using data from the Medicare Part D population found that prescriptions filled for all opioids decreased by 2.11 million daily doses per year when a state instituted any medical cannabis law, and prescriptions for all opioids decreased by 3.742 million daily doses per year when medical cannabis dispensaries opened.
Medicaid Study
The Medicaid study’s objective was to examine the association of state implementation of medical and adult-use marijuana laws with opioid prescribing rates and spending among Medicaid enrollees. Its authors were from the Department of Health Management and Policy, the University of Kentucky College of Public Health at Lexington, Emory University School of Public Health in Atlanta, and the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA.
The study can be accessed at: Wen H, Hockenberry JM. Association of medical and adult-use marijuana laws with opioid prescribing for Medicaid enrollees. JAMA Internal Medicine 2018; 178(5):673-678.
Written by R.L. Wynn, Wolters Kluwer
