#PAIN RELIEF: Cannabinoids vs Opioids

According to the National Center for Health Statistics there were 64,000 drug overdose deaths in the Untied States in the year of 2016. At least 50,000 of these deaths are related to opioids(natural, semi or full synthetic) heroin and methadone. Cocaine and Methamphetamines make up the rest of the recorded overdose fatalities.

What may be the hugest contributor to these opioid related deaths? Jeremy Kossen refers to this in his article on the Leafly website Is Cannabis Better for Chronic Than Opioids?

Chronic pain can be an incredibly debilitating condition. For many who live with it on a daily or near daily basis, the condition can be so oppressive, it affects other parts of their lives, impacting their mood, health, and overall well-being. Unfortunately, many treatment options are only nominally effective. Worse, commonly prescribed drugs like opioids are highly addictive and potentially toxic; 28,000 people died from an opioid overdose in 2014, more than any other year in history. No wonder a growing number of the estimated one in five Americans who suffer from chronic pain are turning to cannabis as an alternative.

People are looking for pain relief. In search for alleviation they visit their doctors and usually get prescribed some form of pharmaceutical such as OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet or others; which leads to an increase of use of these type of opioids. These are proven to be very addictive. Recreational users are also attracted to these type of drugs due to the euphoric side effects.

Opioids have a direct effect to the neurological system due to human bodies natural opioid receptors. There is a concentration of these receptors in the Pre-Botzinger Complex which controls breathing. In an overdose this area of the brain stem is depressed and breathing becomes slow and irregular and eventually leads to death due to lack of oxygen.

As the numbers suggest, there is a need to have an alternative to this type of dangerous pain management. After a clinical review of 28 studies of the use of forms of cannabis for pain relief lead by Harvard, Canabis could be a safe alternative. Medical Marijuana for Treatment of Chronic Pain and Other Medical and Psychiatric Problems: A Clinical Review.

Like Opioids the THC in cannabis has analgesic affects which help to block pain signals. Different strains of the cannabis plant have higher levels of THC. Additionally, the medicinal properties of the plant can be ingested in various ways such as smoking, edibles, vaping and tincture. The cannabinoids in these consumables bond with the natural endo-cannabinoid system in the human body. While there are high density areas with these type of receptors in the brain it is believed there is low risk of overdose as in opioids , as the areas for controlling breathing are not as dense.

Why are opioid derived drugs being used in such staggering amounts? Why are we not seeing more natural pain relief alternatives?

There is clear evidence that cannabis can be a safer and more personally detailed type of pain management. As more states clear the path for people to have access to this beneficial plant, we could see a drop in the dependency opiods, as suggested in The Journal of Pain Volume 17, Issue 6 2016 article Medical Cannabis Use Is Associated With Decreased Opiate Medication Use in a Retrospective Cross-Sectional Survey of Patients With Chronic Pain

The study shows an overall dependency drop of opioids when patients chose cannabis for pain treatment. There are also studies that show including cannabis into an opioid-controlled pain management program, one can rely less on the latter of the treatments.

A University of Michigan March 2016 study published in the Journal of Pain provides some compelling data. They found that cannabis:
Decreased side effects from other medications
Improved quality of life
Reduced use of opioids (on average) by 64%

There are many different things to consider when trying to address what type of pain management may work for an individual. As the number of deaths and cases of dependency continue to rise, I hope that those in need of relief will examine the benefits of cannabis over opioids.

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Thank you to my wife Rachael for proof reading this.
Thank you for reading.

~RESPECT~