A solution to the opioid epidemic could come in the form of marijuana.
Research suggests that in states where there is legalized marijuana, the number of prescriptions for opioids decreases. Despite 115 Americans dying each day from opioid related overdoses, nothing has helped stem the epidemic.
In the first study, done by a father-daughter team, they looked at Medicare Part D prescriptions. In states where pot is legal, the number of opioid prescriptions dropped by 14-percent. The second study looked an Medicaid recipients and found a drop of nearly 6-percent.
The researchers all stress that marijuana will not stop the opioid problem, but it appears to be slowing down the problem. The two papers were published recently in the "Journal of the American Medical Association."Source: The Motley Fool