psychology

USING MEDICAL MARIJUANA TO TREAT OPIOID USE DISORDER

Candace Riedel

PSY 699: Master of Arts in Capstone

More than 130 people die every day from opioid overdose

This is a serious national crisis

The CDC estimates that the “economic burden” of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.

Roughly 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them

Between 8 and 12 percent develop an opioid use disorder

An estimated 4 to 6 percent who misuse prescription opioids transition to heroin

About 80 percent of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids.

Opioid overdoses increased 30 percent from July 2016 through September 2017 in 52 areas in 45 states.

The Midwestern region saw opioid overdoses increase 70 percent from July 2016 through September 2017

Opioid overdoses in large cities increase by 54 percent in 16 states

Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York and Colorado allow medical professionals to prescribed marijuana for opioid use disorder.

The implications of this poster are in hoping that the information will be available and noteworthy enough for studies to begin on the efficacy of using medical marijuana as a tool to combat opioid use disorder

Based on the conclusions of the research studies, information will be provided to either prove that adding medical marijuana to the already existing MAT program is beneficial, inconclusive or creates more issues for individuals with opioid use disorder.

The objective is to provide education, detailed information, and resources on the efficacy of using medical marijuana to treat opioid use disorder in the hopes that case studies, clinical trials and research will begin.

We will use statistics from states with medical marijuana programs in place, look at overdose rates in those states and assess and follow individuals who are already participating in the program to determine if using medical marijuana as a form of treatment is successful in reducing opioid addiction, relapse and deaths.

The assessment will encompass identifying individuals with opioid use disorder who are currently active in the medical marijuana program. The assessment will identify past treatment programs that an individual has participated in and the outcomes of those programs. The assessment will follow the individuals for 5 years from the date they first participated in the medical marijuana program and will track use, effectiveness, benefits and relapse if applicable.

PURPOSE

Humphreys, K., & Saitz, R. (2019). Should Physicians Recommend Replacing Opioids With Cannabis? JAMA, 321(7), 639–640. https://doi-org.proxy library.ashford.edu/10.1001/jama.2019.0077

Wiese, B., & Wilson-Poe, A. R. (2018). Emerging Evidence for Cannabis' Role in Opioid Use Disorder. Cannabis and cannabinoid research, 3(1), 179–189.doi:10.1089/can.2018.0022

Piomelli, D., Weiss, S., Boyd, G., Pacula, R. L., & Cooper, Z. (2018). Cannabis and the Opioid Crisis. Cannabis and cannabinoid research, 3(1), 108–116.doi:10.1089/can.2018.29011.rtl

https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-safe-effective-medicine

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/colorado-looks-medical-marijuana-ease-opioid-crisis-n1035541

https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

economist.com

hhs.gov

Recoveryinmotion.com

CONCLUSIONS

IMPLICATIONS

THE OPIOID CRISIS

REFERENCES

Chart 1. economist.com.

Figure 1. hhs.gov.

Figure 2. recoverryinmotion.com.

ABSTRACT

The opioid crisis is a serious national problem that is affecting public health as well as the social and economic welfare of this nation’s citizens. The use of opiate blockers and antagonists is helpful but also creating a sub-crisis of addiction and misuse of the medications that we are using to treat opioid use disorder. The purpose of this poster is to provide education and information on the use of medical marijuana to treat opioid use disorder and for professionals to research and create case studies to determine the efficacy of using medical marijuana to treat opioid use disorder. We want to evaluate current treatment models used to treat opioid use disorder, ie: methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone in medication assisted treatment programs and the impact of adding medical marijuana to existing treatment protocols.

.