Could cannabis save us from opioids?

By Siona Henze

“If Oxy tabs had a little THC, this world would be a safer place.” 

Said the DEA, never.

But Falmouth-based integrative medicine physician Dustin Sulak found in a 2020 survey of over 500 patients at three medical cannabis practices in Maine and Massachusetts that 40 percent of patients with chronic pain stopped opioid use altogether when cannabis was added to their treatment plan; 45 percent reduced their opioid use; and 80–90 percent reported improved quality of life and ability to function. According to a review and analysis of 19 pre-clinical studies in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, co-administration of THC with opioids can reduce the effective dose of morphine 3.6 times, and codeine 9.5 times.  In other words, addictive doses of opioids are no longer needed for pain management. 

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