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Risky maneuver
To date, two US states, New York and Illinois, have legalized the use of cannabis to treat chronic pain as an alternative to addictive opioids.
Ask anyone in the street, and they will probably tell you that cannabis helps people relax. Anecdotally, the chemical similarities between cannabis and opioids suggest that cannabis may help reduce opioid dependence. Both drugs alleviate similar symptoms and open similar experiences – but cannabis is much less dangerous in itself.
But the anecdotal evidence goes only very far.
Mixed bag
While it is difficult to criticize anything that could help mitigate the opioid epidemic, the physiological impact of treatment of chronic pain or opioid dependence on cannabis has not been similarly rigorous. scientific studies that other medical treatments, American scientist.
Overall, scientists have faced many challenges in experimenting with cannabis. Although American scientist indicates that some clinical research is finally beginning to support it, overall, there is simply not much evidence corroborating this anecdotal idea.
But as other treatments for opioid addiction, such as methadone, were already working and dismissing them can be dangerous, the scientists argued that it would be dangerous to replace those who are already taking drugs. prescription opioids through a cannabis prescription in a perspective letter recently published in Journal of the American Medical Association.
Pain factor
The big question is whether cannabis will not only help people already addicted to opioids, but also the chronic pain causing these opioids.
In this case, the search is once again limited. Many studies suggest that cannabis treats pain, but a research paper published in European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience at the beginning of the year, most cannabis pain studies had severe limitations, calling into question their findings.
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