Mediame.guru

By MARY KEKATOS HEALTH REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 14:00 EST, 19 November 2019 | UPDATED: 14:45 EST, 19 November 2019

• Researchers looked at 1,100 people at high risk of opioid overdose because they were using the drugs to manage major or chronic pain
• People who used cannabis daily had half the risk of using opioids on a daily basis 
• Daily users also reported positive side effects such as relief from stress and nausea, and improved sleep quality

Using cannabis every day made illicit opioid users less likely to turn their drugs, a new study suggests. 

Researchers found that daily cannabis users were two times less to use illegal drugs like heroin or painkillers they got from the street or were not prescribed to them, to treat their aches. 

Daily marijuana users were also more likely to report several therapeutic uses of pot such as for treating nausea and improving sleep. 

The team, from the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) and the University of British Columbia (UBC), says the findings indicate that cannabis might not only be a good way to alleviate pain, but that it could reduce the number of people using opioids.  

A new study from the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use has found that daily cannabis users were 50% less likely to use illicit opioids, such as heroin, to manage their chronic pain

In 2017, more than 70,200 Americans died from drug overdoses after taking illicit drugs like fentanyl, prescription painkillers like OxyContin, or a combination of the two categories. 

Past research has suggested that medical marijuana could be used alongside opioids, or replace them entirely, to relieve pain.

But there are still many questions on the safety and efficacy of such treatment regimens, and study results on the relationship between cannabis use and opioid misuse have varied wildly. 

In fact, another study, released earlier today by researchers at McMaster University, found that cannabis use did not reduce opioid use during treatment for addiction and dependence. 

And within 24 hours of the McMaster study's publication, the UBC study suggests just the opposite. 

For the new UBC study, published in PLOS Medicine, the team interviewed more than 1,100 people in Vancouver, Canada, between 2014 and 2017.

The group, according to the researchers, was at highest risk of overdosing on opioids because its members had been using the drugs to manage major or chronic pain. 

Participants who used pot every day were 50 percent less likely to use illicit opioids every day compared to those who didn't use cannabis.