Theres a body of research showing that painkiller abuse and overdose are lower in states with medical marijuana laws. These studies have generally assumed that when medical marijuana is available, pain patients are increasingly choosing pot over powerful and deadly prescription narcotics. But that’s always been just an assumption.



Now a new study, released in the journal Health Affairs, validates these findings by providing clear evidence of a missing link in the causal chain running from medical marijuana to falling overdoses. Ashley and W. David Bradford, a daughter-father pair of researchers at the University of Georgia, scoured the database of all prescription drugs paid for under Medicare Part D from 2010 to 2013.



They found that, in the 17 states with a medical-marijuana law in place by 2013, prescriptions for painkillers and other classes of drugs fell sharply compared with states that did not have a medical-marijuana law. The drops were quite significant: In medical-marijuana states, the average doctor prescribed 265 fewer doses of antidepressants each year, 486 fewer doses of seizure medication, 541 fewer anti-nausea doses and 562 fewer doses of anti-anxiety medication.

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But most strikingly, the typical physician in a medical-marijuana state prescribed 1,826 fewer doses of painkillers in a given year.



The tanking numbers for painkiller prescriptions in medical marijuana states are likely to cause some concern among pharmaceutical companies. These companies have long been at the forefront of opposition to marijuana reform, funding research by anti-pot academics and funneling dollars to groups, such as the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, that oppose marijuana legalization.



Pharmaceutical companies have also lobbied federal agencies directly to prevent the liberalization of marijuana laws. In one case, recently uncovered by the office of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the Department of Health and Human Services recommended that naturally derived THC, the main psychoactive component of marijuana, be moved from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act — a less restrictive category that would acknowledge the drug’s medical use and make it easier to research and prescribe. Several months after HHS submitted its recommendation, at least one drug company that manufactures a synthetic version of THC — which would presumably have to compete with any natural derivatives — wrote to the Drug Enforcement Administration to express opposition to rescheduling natural THC, citing “the abuse potential in terms of the need to grow and cultivate substantial crops of marijuana in the United States.”



The DEA ultimately rejected the HHS recommendation without explanation.

Yes, this DEA…

DEA Agents Caught Having Drug Cartel Funded Prostitute Sex Parties Received Slap on the Wrist; None Fired

The DEA Strikes Again – Agents Seize Man’s Life Savings Under Civil Asset Forfeiture Without Charges

DEA Agents Wrongly Jailed Student for 5 Days Without Food or Water Until He Had to Drink Own Urine; Nobody Fired

In what may be the most concerning finding for the pharmaceutical industry, the Bradfords took their analysis a step further by estimating the cost savings to Medicare from the decreased prescribing. They found that about $165 million was saved in the 17 medical marijuana states in 2013. In a back-of-the-envelope calculation, the estimated annual Medicare prescription savings would be nearly half a billion dollars if all 50 states were to implement similar programs.



One limitation of the study is that it only looks at Medicare Part D spending, which applies only to seniors. Previous studies have shown that seniors are among the most reluctant medical-marijuana users, so the net effect of medical marijuana for all prescription patients may be even greater.

I LOVE OUR DEMOKERCY land of FREEDUMB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2017 03:02AM by riverhousebill.

A Prime example of what Im talking about is my case with PTSD. As I posted under govt patent on marijuanna I was precribed Paxel and Trazadon by the Veterans Admin I could not tell day from night at times zone city. I went to pot, got the best releif from my daily night mares from my service.
Cost to Va and all you tax payers? ($2.2 billion) on patients with PTSD, per year
and only about have of our vets are getting treatment.
Many vets have gone of the Cateels feeding bucket, They are freaking over the results with an erb verses thier toxic life shorting products.

We are not free in AMERIKA with this corpse milking everyone.
Capitalism realy sucks, here in Vietnam there are many problems, but Ill take the Socalist govt Of Vietnam over our Imperalist Capitalist system that is detrouying our planet and lives.

You can not be free and drug free quote Dr Lester Greenspoon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2017 06:44AM by riverhousebill.

Alcohol and pharma groups have been quietly backing anti-marijuana efforts across the US as calls for legalization ramp up.



Marijuana legalization will unleash misery on Arizona, according to a wave of television ads that started rolling out across the state last month. Replete with ominous music, the advertisements feature lawmakers and teachers who paint a bleak future for Arizona’s children if voters approve Proposition 205, a measure that would allow people aged 21 and over to possess an ounce of pot and grow up to six plants for recreational use.

“Colorado schools were promised millions in new revenues” when the state approved recreational pot use, says the voiceover in one ad. Instead, schoolchildren were plagued by “marijuana edibles that look like candy”.
Could a marijuana tax help Portland's minority-owned businesses?
Read more

As Election Day approaches, the ads will continue, but the surprise lies in who is backing them. In August, the pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics also cited concerns for child safety when, with a $500,000 contribution, it became the largest donor to Arizona’s anti-legalization drive. But their stated concerns have raised a few eyebrows across the state. Insys manufactures Subsys, a prescription painkiller derived from fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

And although child safety is a legitimate concern as states legalize cannabis – in Colorado, child emergency room visits for marijuana intoxication have increased to 2.3 per 100,000 kids aged 10 and under since legalization in 2014, up from from 1.2 per 100,000 kids before that – accidental ingestion of pharmaceuticals sends about 318 per 100,000 kids aged five years and under to the emergency room, according to government figures. The frequency of hospital visits from kids accidentally taking narcotic painkillers have increased 225% between 2004 and 2011, the US Department of Health and Human Services said.
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Instead, critics say, the Insys contribution in Arizona is a ploy to protect market share. And it mirrors other large donations to anti-marijuana campaigns by pharmaceutical and alcohol companies that fear the growing clout of legal marijuana. In November, five states – Arizona, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and California – could join four others that have already legalized recreational cannabis. Currently, 25 states permit the plant’s medicinal use. They represent a national marijuana market that will top $6.7bn in sales this year, according to the research firm ArcView Group, and $20bn annually by 2020.

“We’ve definitely seen a more active opposition from the pharma industry,” said Amanda Reiman, manager of marijuana law and policy at the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group that promotes drug reform. “Research conducted by myself and others shows that medical cannabis patients are substituting cannabis for pharmaceuticals at a very high rate, and for alcohol at a pretty high rate as well.”

Indeed, alcohol and pharma groups have been quietly backing anti-marijuana efforts across the country. Besides Insys, the Arizona Wine and Spirits Wholesale Association gave one of the largest donations to the state’s anti-legalization campaign when it paid $10,000 to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy. And the Beer Distributors PAC recently donated $25,000 to the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts, making it the state’s third-largest backer of the opposition to recreational cannabis.

Purdue Pharma and Abbott Laboratories, makers of the painkiller OxyContin and Vicodin, respectively, are among the largest contributors to the Anti-Drug Coalition of America, according to a report in the Nation. And the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, considered one of marijuana’s biggest opponents, spent nearly $19m on lobbying in 2015.

The plant’s threat to the alcohol industry is difficult to chart. Some researchers claim consumers substitute alcohol with marijuana when the plant is legalized. But in Colorado, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, that scenario has not played out. Alcohol sales there have increased since cannabis legalization, according to state tax data. And despite the alcohol industry’s opposition to cannabis in Massachusetts and Arizona, in neighboring Nevada the alcohol industry is among the biggest donors to the pro-legalization drive. It has given nearly $88,000 to the pro-legalization campaign, according to the Center for Public Integrity. That’s because approval of Nevada’s initiative would hand alcohol distributors the sole right to sel
Alcohol and pharma groups have been quietly backing anti-marijuana efforts across the US as calls for legalization ramp up. Photograph: Ed Oudenaarden/EPA
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Marijuana legalization will unleash misery on Arizona, according to a wave of television ads that started rolling out across the state last month. Replete with ominous music, the advertisements feature lawmakers and teachers who paint a bleak future for Arizona’s children if voters approve Proposition 205, a measure that would allow people aged 21 and over to possess an ounce of pot and grow up to six plants for recreational use.

“Colorado schools were promised millions in new revenues” when the state approved recreational pot use, says the voiceover in one ad. Instead, schoolchildren were plagued by “marijuana edibles that look like candy”.
Could a marijuana tax help Portland's minority-owned businesses?
Read more

As Election Day approaches, the ads will continue, but the surprise lies in who is backing them. In August, the pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics also cited concerns for child safety when, with a $500,000 contribution, it became the largest donor to Arizona’s anti-legalization drive. But their stated concerns have raised a few eyebrows across the state. Insys manufactures Subsys, a prescription painkiller derived from fentanyl,

My Democrocy is a Mockery in this land of the freedumb
F--k corp Amerika DISRUPT 20 in Washington DC I will be there! RHB



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2017 11:53AM by riverhousebill.

Our Vices Don't Want Competition

The other two industries fighting legalization should come as no surprise: both pharmaceutical companies and alcohol brands are spending money keep prohibition around, too. Certain anti-cannabis academics are funded by big pharma. Alcohol companies, Tobbaco are also lobbying against legalization. In one example, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors made campaign contributions to a committee dedicated to preventing marijuana legalization and taxation.

When In Mexico last year I had a good laugh when I saw Hugh billboard that said
Stop Druggas sponserd by Cottia Beer Co.

To summarize, police unions, prison guard unions, for-profit prisons, and drug and alcohol companies spend huge sums of money each year to keep cannabis illegal, and why? Because it ensures job security and profits. We’re speechless, though sadly not surprised.

And another Idustry not talked of here is the Tobbaco Carteel, very active agianst marujanna.
The most powerful Union in Ca. Prison guards Union The Prison Industrail Complex.
In the old Days we called them Plantions, now we call them Prisons
Democrocy A Demockery Are We Free Yet? Oppose Corpse America DISRUPT 20 Wahington DC 20th jan or in your home town, Now or ???



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2017 05:25AM by riverhousebill.