A new study claims that medical marijuana use directly correlates with a decline in prescription drug use, which could save the US taxpayer up to $1.1 billion a year on Medicaid prescriptions.
The research follows up on another study carried out last year by Ashley Bradford and W. David Bradford which found that taxpayers would save half a billion dollars each year through the provision of medical marijuana.
“Patients and physicians in the community are reacting to the availability of medical marijuana as if it were medicine,” the father-daughter team wrote in their latest findings, published online this week in the Health Affairs publication. Medical marijuana is legal in 28 states and in Washington DC.
4 governors ask Trump admin to chill out on marijuana enforcement https://t.co/3mLt1hHLbb
— RT America (@RT_America) April 4, 2017
“Using quarterly data on all fee-for-service Medicaid prescriptions in the period 2007–14, we tested the association between those laws and the average number of prescriptions filled by Medicaid beneficiaries,” the researchers wrote.
The revised estimates in the latest study are even more optimistic, and predict that if medical marijuana was made available nationwide it would lead to: an 11 percent drop in prescriptions for pain medication, including opioids; a 17 percent drop in prescriptions for nausea medications; a 13 percent drop in depression medication prescriptions, and a 12 percent decrease in both anti-seizure and anti-psychotic medications.
All of which would amount to a total savings of up to $1.1 billion to the US taxpayer.
DEA approves synthetic #marijuana for big pharma company against legalization https://t.co/5NR6ETznnU pic.twitter.com/pbHRPEHhBi
— RT (@RT_com) March 25, 2017
A study published on April 1 in the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence also found that states which have legalized medical marijuana have seen an overall reduction in opioid-related hospitalizations per capita compared with those where the drug is still illegal, even for medicinal purposes.
The researchers did concede that a uniform replacement of FDA-approved treatments with medical marijuana across the board would be harmful.
However, they also disputed the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Schedule 1 classification of the drug which is reserved for drugs that have no “currently accepted medical use[s].”
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been a noted critic of marijuana legalization, claiming that “there’s more violence around marijuana than one would think,” in a meeting with reporters in February, as cited by CBS. He has also expressed surprise that the American people do not support his anti-marijuana stance.
Overmedication is very rampant with psychiatric drugs…
The US has a highly developed pharmaceutical industry offering treatments for all kinds of mental disorders. Millions of Americans are being medicated for ailments as diverse as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and many others. Even young children are being put on psychiatric drugs. If parents decline such treatment, social services may intervene.
Many patients, who’ve been taking these pills for years, insist that they do more harm than good. They have experienced disturbing side effects such as suicidal thoughts, addiction and even neurological damage. A lot of patients were put on their medication as children and by the time they were legally old enough to decide for themselves, they had already become addicted. They testify that breaking their dependency on the drugs is extremely difficult because, like any habit forming narcotic, they cause severe withdrawal symptoms.
RTD meets some of the sufferers to hear their stories of battling to shake off prescribed medicines. Father of 5, Josh, was given anxiety medication, it caused Akathisia and Dystonia. Both are physical disorders causing involuntary and uncontrolled body movement and have left him disabled.
Olivia’s son was prescribed psychiatric drugs to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD). Olivia soon noticed side effects and refused to continue giving him the pills. He was taken by social services and hospitalised.
Denis from Russia used to work for a pharmaceutical company in the US but after meeting his wife, who had suffered from the side effects of antidepressants for most of her life, he started questioning the necessity for such widespread psychiatric prescribing.
Their claims are supported by lawyers and medical professionals. Psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin is a vocal critic of psychiatric medication. He is adamant that the drugs are toxic and that many problems people talk to physiatrists about can be treated without resorting to drugs.