cannabisnews.com: Patterns: A Benefit of Legal Marijuana
function share_this(num) {
 tit=encodeURIComponent('Patterns: A Benefit of Legal Marijuana');
 url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/28/thread28255.shtml');
 site = new Array(5);
 site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
 window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
 return false;
}






Patterns: A Benefit of Legal Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on September 02, 2014 at 05:36:26 PT
By Nicholas Bakalar
Source: New York Times
USA -- Policy makers have suggested a variety of strategies to reduce injury and death from prescription opioid overdose, including drug-monitoring programs, scrutiny of doctors writing prescriptions and improved access to substance-abuse treatment.Now a study has found evidence that legal access to marijuana is associated with fewer opioid overdose deaths. Researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs found that in states where medical marijuana was legally available, death rates from opioid overdose were on average 24.8 percent lower than in states without medical marijuana.
The differences generally were even greater in states where medical marijuana had been available for longer periods. The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.The authors acknowledge that various factors that are hard to measure may be at work, including differences among states in health behaviors, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and medical or psychiatric diagnoses.But by comparing the same state before and after the passage of medical marijuana laws, the researchers say they were able to control for population variations between states, even those they could not specifically identify.They do not recommend the wide adoption of legalized cannabis on the basis of this study. Still, the lead author, Dr. Marcus A. Bachhuber, a fellow at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said that medical marijuana laws might have unexpected benefits.“The next step would be a study of individuals over time,” he said. “If studies of individuals suggest that laws shift behavior, we could be reasonably confident of our results.”A version of this article appears in print on 09/02/2014, on page D4 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Patterns: A Benefit of Legal Marijuana.Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Nicholas BakalarPublished: September 2, 2014Copyright: 2014 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/Ri10jrPQCannabisNews  Medical Marijuana  Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help 
     
     
     
     




Comment #2 posted by Vincent on September 02, 2014 at 14:01:52 PT:
The way forward
This is interesting news, and I hope it sways some folks, but for some hard-core Prohibitionists, it makes no difference at all. For example, if I point out some study by a doctor or scientist that demonstrates Marijuana is beneficial, they will point to another "study" by one of their, ahem, "doctors" which shows (according to their interpretation) the opposite. Especially when they've become Born-Again, ah, "Christian" (if you wanna call them that) because they screwed-up their lives, and they need to be "saved"...from themselves. That's how "schools" of Prohibition get their recruits...from the weak-willed among us.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by observer on September 02, 2014 at 12:31:01 PT
Kiss Those Grants Goodbye, Baby!
re: "They do not recommend the wide adoption of legalized cannabis on the basis of this study."Of course they don't: they can't. Bachhuber would be fired on the spot if he did. If he wasn't fired immediately, his boss would be. re: "Still, the lead author, Dr. Marcus A. Bachhuber, a fellow at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said that medical marijuana laws might have unexpected benefits."Even that timid statement should be enough to guarantee that Marcus A. Bachhuber will not have his grants approved or renewed next FY.  I expect grandstanding congressmen will now stand up and denounce Bachhuber as encouraging kids to take hard drugs, and will explicitly threaten Department of Veterans Affairs' funding, because they let slip research showing the medical benefits of medical cannabis. This will put the fear of their god (money) into the upper echelon toadies and boot-lickers at this governmental department, and that little research project will be cut - and several more projects added, designed to (propaganda) show "scientifically" the evils of pot, to make up for Bachhuber's slip-up. The slip-up of showing pot's benefits. I hope I'm wrong. But you know what? We've all seen this type of thing played out many times. What will be surprising is if Bachhuber isn't fired. What would be miraculous is if Bachhuber gets his contract and research grants renewed. I love to be wrong about stuff like that.
http://drugnewsbot.org
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment