An average of 44 Americans die every day from an overdose of prescription painkillers, a trend the Centers for Disease Control calls a national epidemic.

 

Today, more evidence piles up that medical cannabis is part of the solution to the American health crisis.

 

A newly published study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that 273 Michigan prescription painkiller users found cannabis to be more effective on pain that their prescriptions, and the patients “indicated a strong desire to reduce [pill] usage.”

   

The study also found that painkiller users who supplement with cannabis don't turn into omnivorous drug fiends, either.

 

“Use of [prescription pain medications] among medical cannabis users was not identified as a correlate for more serious forms of alcohol and other drug involvement,” the study concluded. 

 

Early studies have shown states with medical marijuana laws have 33 percent less overdose deaths than non-MMJ states. Other early studies show cannabis allows opioid users to take less pills, which is probably contributing to their increased likelihood of living. 

 

Roughly, 16,235 Americans died from painkiller overdoses in 2013. Cannabis has no overdose level, according to the National Cancer Institute.

 

[via Forbes]

 

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