Is Marijuana a Solution to Addiction?

Marijuana has for some time now remained one of the most important markets of the modern day. With so much legalization occurring in only the past few years, it seems as though cannabis use and know-how is very much on the rise. With the new industry that has been created, it seems as though there is a lot we still don’t know about the substance regarding everything from what conditions it can treat to whether or not it can help with the symptoms of addiction. With more laws on the way and the substance being studied more than ever, we are now learning answers to these questions that we never had before.

In the U.S., cannabis is still considered to be a Schedule I narcotic from the point of view of the federal government. This is due to the age-old war on drugs started several decades ago. Since that time, however, we have seen that cannabis is nowhere near as severe when it comes to addiction and downsides of the substance.

One of the most important factors to reconciling whether or not cannabis can, in fact, treat addiction is the studies that have come out in the past few years. One study, done in 2014, compared the deaths of those with opioid addiction in states with legal marijuana to those that didn’t have it legalized. Well, this study did show a correlation between lower death rates in the states with legal cannabis, there are still many factors that contribute to whether or not this is true. The data, however, is quite astounding and should be used to consider whether or not cannabis can become a viable treatment for opioid addiction moving into the near future.

Marijuana has been known to reduce the amount of pain one may suffer where they otherwise would receive opioids to treat it. In this way, cannabis could have the potential to stop someone from getting addicted before they even start. This though is a small case and does not account for those who have simply become addicted to the drug on their own choice.

One of the benefits of using cannabis for addiction treatment is that it can be a solid alternative when looking at other drugs that individuals use to get off harsher ones. Cannabis has been known to be anti-nausea, and anti-inflammatory, which are two things that can happen when one quits the use of opioids.

The issue still stands that legislation in the U.S. and many parts of the world is not up to par with the laws that need to be made. The hopes are that as we move throughout the near future, we can continue to see a trend of legalizing cannabis, that could help to lower the rate of addiction and help addicts move off of drugs altogether. This, however, requires some time, but it does look like we are well on the way to making it a reality.