According to the study, legal marijuana reduces chronic pain, but increases traffic accidents

The legalization of recreational marijuana is badociated with a reduction in chronic pain, although the change not significantly the use of medical care in general, but also with an increase in abuse, the damage due to overdoses and car accidents, according to a study by researchers from the University of California at San Francisco (United States).

In a review of more than 28 million hospital records before and after Colorado's legalization of cannabis two years, UCSF researchers found that hospital admissions for abuse of Cannabis increased after legalization, compared to other states. But considering all hospital admissions and time spent in hospitals, there has been a significant increase after the legalization of recreational cannabis.

The study, published in the BMJ Open, also has fewer diagnoses of chronic pain after legalization, which corresponds to a report from the National Academy of Sciences in 2017 concluded that There is substantial evidence that cannabis can reduce chronic pain.

"We need to think about the potential health effects of dramatically improving the accessibility of cannabis, as has been done in most states -" explains lead author Gregory Marcus, cardiologist of the Health and Deputy Head UCSF UCSF– Division of Cardiology. This unique transitional legalization offers a unique opportunity to investigate hospitalizations among millions of people in the presence of better access. Our results demonstrate several potential adverse effects that are relevant for physicians and policymakers, as well as for people who consider cannabis. "

According to the 2014 National Survey of Drug Use and Health, more than 117 million Americans (44.2 percent of the population) have used cannabis in their lifetime, and over 22 millions reported doing so in the last 30 days. Although its use is a federal crime as a controlled substance, 28 states and the District of Columbia now allow for the treatment of medical conditions. Nine of these states have legalized for recreational purposes.

To understand the potential changes in the use of medical care as a result of extensive policy changes, Marcus and his colleagues reviewed the records of more than 28 million people in Colorado, New York and the United States. Oklahoma Project Utilization and Health Care Costs for the Period 2010-2014, which included 16 million hospitalizations. They compared rates of health care utilization and diagnosis in Colorado two years before and two years after recreational marijuana legalized in December 2012; New York, as an urban and geographically distant state, and Oklahoma, as a geographically close state and especially in rural areas.

The researchers found that after legalization, Colorado experienced a 10 percent increase in motor vehicle accidents and a 5 percent increase in alcohol and overdose abuse that caused injuries or death. At the same time, the state has recorded a 5 percent decline in hospital admissions for chronic pain, Marcus points out.

"There has been a lack of rigorous research on the actual health effects of cannabis use, especially in the level of public health – Marcus Alerta, director of the Gifted Research Chair in Atrial Fibrillation Medical School. UCSF–. These data demonstrate the need to strongly warn against driving under the influence of any psychotropic substance like cannabis, and may suggest that the fight against addiction and the abuse of other recreational drugs become more importantly once it's been legalized cannabis. "

The researchers were unable to determine why the overall use of health care remained essentially neutral, although they pointed out that the adverse effects may have been diluted in the much larger number of total hospitalizations. In addition, they suggest that there could be beneficial effects, either at the individual or social level, fighting the negative aspects.