The Impact of Medical Cannabis Laws on Cannabis and Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Overdose-Related Health Care Utilization Among Adults With Chronic Noncancer Pain.
Medical cannabis laws don't curb opioid addiction or overdose for chronic pain patients. Contrary to expectations, these laws have no impact on healthcare use for cannabis or opioid-related issues.
This study used a difference-in-differences design and augmented synthetic control analyses to compare changes in cannabis use disorder (CUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment, as well as cannabis and opioid overdose-related healthcare use, before and after medical cannabis law implementation. The findings indicate that state medical cannabis laws had negligible effects on the proportion of patients receiving CUD or OUD treatment, initiating new treatment, or experiencing cannabis or opioid overdose. The study suggests that medical cannabis laws do not lead to reductions in adverse opioid-related outcomes among adults with chronic noncancer pain, contrary to expectations. Limitations include the focus on Medicare beneficiaries, which may not generalize to the broader population.