The opioid epidemic is something that has essentially plagued the United States and is a huge problem in Colorado in particular. Overdose rates are higher than ever and people are dying. Many people are looking for alternative solutions to this crisis and experts are saying that marijuana can help.
The key to marijuana’s effectiveness in helping to heal addiction, in the simplest terms is: “progress not perfection.” This is a phrase used frequently in Alcoholics Anonymous, the idea being that taking continued, repeated steps in the right direction is a much more realistic, and therefore effective goal. Those who oppose marijuana use in narcotics treatment say it is counterintuitive to use a drug to keep oneself from using other drugs. While it may be counterintuitive, the mere fact that there is no known lethal dose of marijuana indicates that it is much safer than an opioid and therefore may be helpful for certain, extreme cases and conditions, such as with crack cocaine and heroin addicts
Heroin
Cannabidiol is a key compound in the use of marijuana in opioid treatment, due to its extreme reduction in the “high” produced by THC (the other main compound present in marijuana. Cannabidiol has famously shown positive effects in treating epilepsy in young children. Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine has claimed that cannabidiol has even reversed some of the harmful brain changes produced by prolonged heroin use. This information is based on her own studies.
Crack Cocaine
In a study led by M-J Milloy, an infectious disease epidemiologist and research scientist at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, 124 frequent crack cocaine users were recruited to report on their crack use before during and after an assigned period of cannabis use. Their crack use decreased significantly after their period of cannabis use, which is promising evidence. However, Milloy said on the topic of his own study: “We certainly have no illusions that this is the final word on the matter. Indeed, I think what it really is, it may be a first step.”
There have been very few studies done on the matter and the truth appears inconclusive, from a scientific standpoint, at this point in time. In the hopes of remedying the situation, the National Institute of Drug Abuse has funded several studies using synthetic THC.
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