Pubdate: Mon, 23 May 2016
Source: State Journal-Register (IL)
Copyright: 2016 The State Journal-Register
Contact: http://service.sj-r.com/forms/letters.asp
Website: http://www.sj-r.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/425
Author: Charles A. Bush-Joseph

MEDICAL CANNABIS AN ALTERNATIVE TO OPIATE PAIN MEDS

Recent data from the CDC noted over 25,000 deaths in 2015 from 
prescription opiate overdose with an estimated 1.9 million people 
dependent on these medications. CDC Director Thomas Frieden said "we 
know of no other medication routinely used for nonfatal conditions 
that kills patients so frequently."

Since 1999, OxyContin and other opiate painkillers have been 
implicated in 190,000 lives lost from overdose. Furthermore, a study 
published in 2014 JAMA analyzed the association between medical 
cannabis laws and opioid overdose mortality rates. This study 
concludes that states with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8 percent 
lower annual opioid overdose mortality rate in comparison to states 
without medical cannabis laws, and these reductions in overdose 
mortality rates generally strengthen each year after implementation 
of such laws.

Medical cannabis provides physicians another treatment option to 
manage these difficult problems in a safe and regulated manner. The 
evolving body of knowledge in the medical literature supports its 
efficacy in treating non-cancer pain and published studies suggest 
the effectiveness of medical cannabis as a pain reliever with the 
added benefits of decreased opiate use.

The Illinois Medical Cannabis Pilot Program is among the most tightly 
regulated programs in the U.S. and is well-crafted to minimize and 
prevent abuse of this beneficial therapy. I believe the physician 
oversight and dispensing regulations allow the safe use of medical 
cannabis as a treatment for patients suffering from chronic pain due 
to trauma, chronic pain due to post-operative pain, intractable pain, 
and neuropathy.

Charles A. Bush-Joseph, MD

Chicago

The writer is a professor in the department of Orthopaedic Surgery at 
Rush University Medical Center.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom