In our war against the opioid epidemic, could ‘weed’ be a winner?

Ding, Delaney D; Balkrishnan, Rajesh; Diaby, Vakaramoko

doi:10.1080/14737167.2020.1807944

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In addition, kratom has been shown to reduce craving for opioids in subjects with opioid use disorder (for reviews see (Prozialeck et al, 2019;Sharma and McCurdy, 2021;Singh et al, 2021). In this regard, kratom may have potential as a harmreduction agent in the treatment of opioid use disorder, similar to cannabis (Ding et al, 2020;Lucas et al, 2021;Socias et al, 2021).…”

Section: Kratom Safety Concernsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kratom Use Within the Context of the Evolving Opioid Crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Prozialeck

Lamar

Krupp³

et al. 2021

Front. Pharmacol.

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Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa, Korth.) is an evergreen tree that is indigenous to Southeast Asia. When ingested, kratom leaves or decoctions from the leaves have been reported to produce complex stimulant and opioid-like effects. For generations, native populations in Southeast Asia have used kratom products to stave off fatigue, improve mood, alleviate pain and manage symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Despite the long history of kratom use in Asia, it is only within the past 10–20 years that kratom has emerged as an important herbal agent in the United States, where it is being used for the self-treatment of pain, opioid withdrawal symptoms, and mood disorders. The increase in the use of kratom in the United States has coincided with the serious epidemic of opioid abuse and dependence. Since 2015, efforts to restrict access to prescription opioids have resulted in a marked increase in the use of “street” opioids such as heroin and illicit fentanyl. At the same time, many patients with chronic pain conditions or opioid use disorder have been denied access to appropriate medical help. The lack of access to care for patients with chronic pain and opioid use disorder has been magnified by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this report, we highlight how these converging factors have led to a surge in interest in kratom as a potential harm reduction agent in the treatment of pain and opioid use disorder.

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Section: Kratom Safety Concernsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kratom Use Within the Context of the Evolving Opioid Crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Prozialeck

Lamar

Krupp³

et al. 2021

Front. Pharmacol.

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“…[6][7][8][9] In this sense, increasing the availability of cannabis through laws that allow legal access to medical and recreational cannabis may lead to large enough individuallevel substitution to produce population-level changes in overdose rates. 10,11 All this is in a context in which the number of states legalizing recreational cannabis has increased rapidly, from two states in 2012, up to 19 states and the District of Columbia as of 2021.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Opioid and Benzodiazepine Poisoning Deaths After Cannabis Legalization in the US: A County-level Analysis, 2002–2020

et al. 2023

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Background: Cannabis legalization for medical and recreational purposes has been suggested as an effective strategy to reduce opioid and benzodiazepine use and deaths. We examined the county-level association between medical and recreational cannabis laws and poisoning deaths involving opioids and benzodiazepines in the US from 2002 to 2020. Methods: Our ecologic county-level, spatiotemporal study comprised 49 states. Exposures were state-level implementation of medical and recreational cannabis laws and state-level initiation of cannabis dispensary sales. Our main outcomes were poisoning deaths involving any opioid, any benzodiazepine, and opioids with benzodiazepines. Secondary analyses included overdoses involving natural and semi-synthetic opioids, synthetic opioids, and heroin. Results: Implementation of medical cannabis laws was associated with increased deaths involving opioids (rate ratio [RR] = 1.14; 95% credible interval [CrI] = 1.11, 1.18), benzodiazepines (RR = 1.19; 95% CrI = 1.12, 1.26), and opioids+benzodiazepines (RR = 1.22; 95% CrI = 1.15, 1.30). Medical cannabis legalizations allowing dispensaries was associated with fewer deaths involving opioids (RR = 0.88; 95% CrI = 0.85, 0.91) but not benzodiazepine deaths; results for recreational cannabis implementation and opioid deaths were similar (RR = 0.81; 95% CrI = 0.75, 0.88). Recreational cannabis laws allowing dispensary sales was associated with consistent reductions in opioid- (RR = 0.83; 95% CrI = 0.76, 0.91), benzodiazepine- (RR = 0.79; 95% CrI = 0.68, 0.92), and opioid+benzodiazepine-related poisonings (RR = 0.83; 95% CrI = 0.70, 0.98). Conclusions: Implementation of medical cannabis laws was associated with higher rates of opioid- and benzodiazepine-related deaths, whereas laws permitting broader cannabis access, including implementation of recreational cannabis laws and medical and recreational dispensaries, were associated with lower rates. The estimated effects of the expanded availability of cannabis seem dependent on the type of law implemented and its provisions.

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In our war against the opioid epidemic, could ‘weed’ be a winner?

Cited by 2 publications

References 29 publications

Kratom Use Within the Context of the Evolving Opioid Crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Kratom Use Within the Context of the Evolving Opioid Crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Changes in Opioid and Benzodiazepine Poisoning Deaths After Cannabis Legalization in the US: A County-level Analysis, 2002–2020

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