Expanding legal access to marijuana for both recreational and medical use may be linked to lower levels of daily opioid consumption among people who inject substances, according to new research led by a scholar at the Boston University School of Public Health.
The study examined drug use patterns across U.S. states with different cannabis laws. Researchers found that states allowing marijuana for both recreational and medical use experienced a drop of roughly 9% to 11% in daily opioid use among individuals who inject drugs. That reduction was notably larger than in states where marijuana was approved only for medical reasons.
The results suggest that access to regulated marijuana may offer an alternative to an increasingly unpredictable and dangerous opioid supply, which accounts for 75% of overdose deaths in the U.S.
The research comes amid major shifts in federal and state drug policy. Last year, President Donald Trump signed an order reclassifying cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III. At the state level, nearly all states permit marijuana for medical purposes, while about half allow adults to purchase it for recreational use.
Persons who inject substances remain among those most affected by the opioid crisis. By focusing on this group, the study builds upon earlier research that often examined the general population and yielded mixed conclusions. The authors say this narrower focus helps clarify how cannabis policies might affect individuals facing the highest overdose risks.
Dr. Danielle Haley, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor at BUSPH, said the scale of the change stood out. She noted that participants were long-term opioid users who would typically experience withdrawal symptoms when cutting back. Haley added that a regulated and safer supply of substances can play an important role in overdose prevention by reducing reliance on unregulated drugs.
To conduct the analysis, the research team used data from the CDC and NHBS. The dataset included nearly 29,000 persons who inject substances across 13 states, with survey waves conducted between 2012 and 2022. Participants reported marijuana use and non-medical opioid use within the previous year, allowing comparisons between states with no legalization, medical-only legalization, and full legalization.
The reduction in opioid use appeared consistent across ethnic and racial groups and among both men and women. However, the researchers did not find an overall increase in daily marijuana use tied to legalization.
One exception involved White participants in states that adopted medical-only cannabis laws, where use rose by about 5%. The authors suggest this pattern may reflect persistent racial differences in access to healthcare systems.
The authors say further research is needed to explore how cannabis legalization may influence other health outcomes, including rates of injection-related infections.
Businesses like Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: CGC) (TSX: WEED) will be pleased to see that research is showing that marijuana legalization has wide-ranging beneficial effects that include reducing the daily use of opioids, and therefore potentially saving lives.
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