A common refrain from critics of cannabis legalization, especially during the early days, was that legalizing the drug would only lead to increased use.
Many studies have found that cannabis use has in fact increased since legalization, though only slightly.
However, when it comes to how legalization has impacted the use of other drugs, particularly problematic therapeutics like opioids, research is beginning to show the opposite.
Cannabis news website Marijuana Moment gained access to a preprint of a study that looked at the correlation between the legalization of cannabis and the use of, and specifically overdose deaths from, opioids.
The study was conducted in 2023 by researchers from four public universities and a libertarian think-tank, but was only published last month by the Social Science Research Network.
In no uncertain terms, the researchers wrote that they could "draw a plausible causal link between [recreational marijuana] adoption and opioid overdose death rates," further stating that "[recreational marijuana adoption] is associated with a decrease of approximately 3.5 deaths per 100,000 individuals," from opioid overdose.
The researchers also noted that "previous research largely indicates that marijuana (primarily for medical use) can reduce opioid prescriptions, and we find it may also successfully reduce overdose deaths."
While studies looking only at cannabis use rates have tended to show an uptick in use among adults since legalization, these studies that look at how legalization impacts the use of other drugs are arguably more important from a harm reduction standpoint.
A 2020 study from Frontiers in Psychiatry attempted to measure the total harm caused by different drugs, both to the user themself and to the community as a whole.
Unsurprisingly, heroin was near the top of the list, only slightly behind crack cocaine and methamphetamine. Cannabis was farther down the list, at 16th, behind drugs that are more legal, federally speaking, including alcohol, amphetamine, ketamine and benzodiazepines.
Notably, fentanyl was not included in the study, perhaps because it had not yet become the scourge it has in recent years.
That is not to say cannabis is a cure-all, but there is now evidence that shows a connection between cannabis legalization and the reduced harm caused by at least one category of drug that has been causing immeasurable pain and suffering across the United States for decades.
If the trade-off for fewer opioid overdose deaths is a slight uptick in the adult use of cannabis, then what is the harm in harm reduction? ♦
