10 states have laws pertaining to low-THC, high-CBD cannabis.
0 states have repealed effective medical cannabis laws.
In total, 49 states acknowledge the medical benefits of cannabis.
Medical Cannabis and Opioids
64% decrease in opioid use among chronic pain patients in Michigan who used medical cannabis[1]
48% reduction in patients’ opioid useafter three months of medical cannabis treatment[2]
78% of patients either reduced or stopped opioid use altogether[3]
1,826 fewer doses of painkillers on average per year, per state, for patients participating in Medicare Part D[4]
Prescription Medications
Nearly 247,000 people died in the United States from overdoses involving prescription opioids from 1999 to 2019.
20% of prescriptions are “off label” — prescribed for a condition for which they are not FDA-approved.[5]
0 people have died from cannabis overdoses in all of recorded history.
Number of Patients
1.5% of a state’s population, on average, enrolls in the medical cannabis program, for a total of nearly 4 million patients.[6]
In comparison, 32% of American adults received an opioid prescription in the past two years, and 18% received one in the past year. [7]
24% of the U.S. population took three or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days.[8]
Qualifying Conditions
38 states’ programs include a general category for severe or chronic pain or allow cannabis if opiates have been or could be prescribed for the condition.
37 states include PTSD as a qualifying condition. Alaska and South Dakota are the only exceptions.
Research
10,000 studies were reviewed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which led them to find:[9]
Conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective in the treatment of chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms;
No link between smoking cannabis and lung cancer; and
No gateway effect.
50% of Crohn’s patients who used medical cannabis entered complete remission and 45% found significant improvement in symptoms.[10]
75% reduction in symptom scores were reported when PTSD patients were using cannabis compared to when they were not.[11]
Hundreds of thousands of patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, seizure disorders, chronic, severe, and persistent pain, and other debilitating illnesses find that cannabis provides relief from their symptoms.
[1]KF Boehnke, et al., “Medical Cannabis Use Is Associated With Decreased Opiate Medication Use in a Retrospective Cross-Sectional Survey of Patients With Chronic Pain,” Journal of Pain, June 2016.
[2] Staci A. Gruber, et al.,“Splendor in the Grass? A Pilot Study Assessing the Impact of Medical Marijuana on Executive Function,” Front. Pharmacol. 13 October 2016, Vol. 7.
[3] “The Cannabis and Opioid Survey,” Healer.com, 4 October 2016.
[4] Ashley C. Bradford et al., “Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Prescription Medication Use In Medicare Part D,” Health Aff.July 2016, Vol. 35 no. 7.
[5] Radley, David C., Finkelstein Stan N., and Stafford, Randall S., “Off-label Prescribing Among Office-Based Physicians," Archives of Internal Medicine 166 (9), 2006: 1021–1026.
[7] "One-Third of Americans Have Received an Opioid Prescription in the Past Two Years ," NORC at the University of Chicago, Sept. 27, 2018.
[8] "Health, United States," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019, table 39.
[9] “The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research,” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, January 2017.
[10] Timna Naftali, et al., "Treatment of Crohn’s Disease with Cannabis: An Observational Study,” Israel Medical Association Journal (2011).
[11] Greer, GR, et al., “PTSD symptom reports of patients evaluated for the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program,” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 2014 January-March;46(1):73-7.
[12]Journal of New England Medicine survey, February 2013.
