Pubdate: Fri, 17 Oct 2014
Source: Express-Times, The (PA)
Copyright: 2014 The Express-Times
Contact: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/sendaletter/
Website: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/expresstimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1489
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n807/a04.html

MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAMS AFFECTING RATES OF PAINKILLER OVERDOSE

Regarding your thoughtful Oct. 14 editorial, the ongoing federal
crackdown on legal hydrocodone has unfortunately given rise to a
resurgence in illegal heroin use.

Nationally, death rates from prescription opioid pain reliever
overdoses quadrupled from 1999 to 2010. Getting tough on drugs is not
necessarily the answer.

New research published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association shows that states with open medical marijuana access have
a 25 percent lower opioid overdose death rate than marijuana
prohibition states. This groundbreaking research has huge implications
for states like Pennsylvania that are struggling with prescription
narcotic and heroin overdoses.

The phrase "if it saves one life" has been used to justify all manner
of drug war abuses. Legal marijuana access has the potential to save
thousands of lives.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard