A recent study showed that cannabis may actually be stopping people using harder and more dangerous ‘gateway drugs’.
As the most widely-used illegal drug in Britain researchers are constantly weighing up the health benefits of cannabis as opposed to prescription drugs.
Cannabis has always been considered the number one ‘gateway drug, meaning it is likely to send it’s users on a downward spiral of substance abuse. This was such a wildly held belief, that state-funded research generally supports the notion that smoking marijuana increases the risk factor for the subsequent misuse of illicit drugs.
However, according to a recent study undertaken by researchers from the University of New Mexico, smoking pot may have the exact opposite effect.
[Image: Rolling Stone]
This study showed that by smoking cannabis, it reduces the use of more dangerous drugs such as heroin and prescription painkillers.
The researchers conducted an experiment to understand the effectiveness of cannabis as a pharmacological agent to other prescription drugs. The team studied 125 chronic pain patients, 83 of whom enrolled in a medical cannabis program and 42 others who chose not to smoke marijuana.
Using a longitudinal study spanning over five years, they found that the 28 cannabis program enrolees stopped using their prescribed medication altogether, as opposed to one of the non-smokers.
Lead author and psychology professor Jacob Miguel Vigil said:
“Our current opioid epidemic is the leading preventable form of death in the US – killing more people than car accidents and gun violence,”
“No one has ever died from smoking too much cannabis.”
“Therefore, the relative safety and efficacy of using cannabis in comparison to that of other scheduled medications should be taken by the health providers and legislators.”
Opioids, such as prescription painkillers and street heroin, killed half a million Americans between 2000 and 2015 and claims 90 more lives each day, according to the Centre for Disease Control.
There is a higher potential for addiction and health risks associated with prescription drugs, costing both patients and healthcare systems gravely due to side effects, such as ‘dependency’ and ‘overdose’, Vigil explains.
[Image: IbTimes]
More recent studies, published by Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, have also found that cannabis use could even help people recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.
Scientists found that cocaine and alcohol-addicted rats who were given cannabidiol (one of the main compounds found in cannabis) were less likely to relapse into alcohol and drug abuse over time – even when forced into stressful surroundings.
So, what do you think?
Check out the article below for one woman’s story of how she abandoned her prescription drugs for medical marijuana to fight chronic pain, and how it worked!