New York Cannabis Program Leading to Opioid Reduction

New research shows adults with chronic pain are less likely to require prescription opioids if they participate in the New York State (NYS) Medical Cannabis Program, a government initiative aimed at implementing a regulatory framework for medical and adult-use cannabis and hemp in New York. 

The study, conducted by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, involved 204 adult patients who were prescribed opioids for chronic pain and were newly certified for medical cannabis between September 2018 and July 2023. Each participant was tracked for 18 months, with data on both cannabis and opioid use. 

"Chronic pain and opioid addiction are two of the most pressing health challenges in the United States," said Deepika E. Slawek, MD, the study's lead author, an associate professor of medicine at Einstein, and an internal medicine and addiction medicine specialist at Montefiore. "Our findings indicate that medical cannabis, when dispensed through a pharmacist-supervised system, can relieve chronic pain while also meaningfully reducing patients' reliance on prescription opioids. Supervised use of medical cannabis could be an important tool in combatting the opioid crisis."

At baseline, the majority of participants reported high levels of pain, with an average daily opioid dose equivalent of 73.3 mg of morphine. However, over the 18-month study period, the average daily dose fell 22% to 57 mg per day.

In addition, participants who received a 30-day supply of medical cannabis used 3.5 mg less per day of morphine equivalents than participants who did not receive cannabis in the same time period. 

"Those changes may seem small, but gradual reductions in opioid use are safer and more sustainable for people managing chronic pain than stopping suddenly," Slawek noted.
Overall, the research should help policymakers make decisions.

"This research adds to the growing body of evidence supporting a medicalized model of cannabis use, where pharmacists are actively involved in dispensaries and cannabis is treated like other prescription drugs," said Julia Arnsten, MD, MPH, the study's senior author, the chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at Montefiore Einstein, and a professor of medicine, epidemiology and population health, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Einstein. "We hope these findings will lead to new policies encouraging the effective management of chronic pain through the use of regulated substances."




—Kenny Walter