More people are substituting marijuana use for other substances such as alcohol according to a new UBC Okanagan study.
Researchers at UBCO and the University of Victoria are challenging the reputation that cannabis is a gateway drug. According to UBCO Assoc. Prof Zach Walsh, the study showed that more than 80 per cent of medical marijuana users reported substituting cannabis for prescription drugs including opiate pain killers.
“This is consistent with recent findings from the US that indicates medical cannabis use had a role in a nearly 25 per cent reduction in opioid overdose deaths — which is a really big deal given the crisis Canada faces with prescription opioid use,” said Walsh, noting Canadians are amongst the highest users of opiate-based drugs.
The study also found that 51 per cent of the 473 respondents report substituting cannabis for alcohol, and 33 per cent suggest they use cannabis instead of illicit substances like cocaine and crystal meth.
The Cannabis Access for Medical Purposes Survey (CAMPS) study was supported with a grant from UBC Okanagan’s Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention.
“While cannabis use can certainly be problematic for some individuals, these findings highlight the potential of cannabis to be an ‘exit drug’ to addiction rather than a gateway drug,” said Lucas, VP of Patient Research and Services for Tilray, and the lead author of the publication. “Used properly, cannabis can substitute for potentially more harmful substances like alcohol, prescription drugs, and illicit substances, and therefore reduce the public health and safety impacts of those substances on individuals and on society as a whole.”
Having legal access to cannabis might affect the broader social costs related to the use of both legal and illicit psychoactive substances, but further research is needed.
“We need to compare the risks and benefits of using other substances, such as opiates or alcohol, to the risks and benefits of cannabis use to estimate the real public health consequences of cannabis use,” said Walsh. “Looking at cannabis use in isolation paints an incomplete picture.”
The research paper was recently published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review.
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