Pubdate: Tue, 12 May 2015
Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2015 The Palm Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n255/a06.html

MEDICAL MARIJUANA HAS LIFESAVING POTENTIAL

Florida needs medical marijuana. I'm not referring to the palliative 
relief that medical marijuana brings to patients but, rather, the 
protective effect it has against prescription narcotic abuses in a state 
famous for "pill mills."

Research published in 2014 in the Journal of the American Medical 
Association shows that states with open medical-marijuana access appear 
to have a 25 percent lower opioid-overdose death rate than 
marijuana-prohibition states. States with established access showed a 33 
percent reduction in overdose deaths.

This finding has huge implications for states like Florida that are 
grappling with prescription opioid-overdose deaths.

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, ARLINGTON, VA.

Editor's note: Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst for Common Sense for 
Drug Policy, based in Washington.
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MAP posted-by: Matt