Marijuana Substituted For Prescription Drugs By Patients
According to an anonymous survey, people qualifying for prescriptions of medical marijuana frequently report substituting the substance for their other prescription medications.Sixty-six of 350 clients at the Berkeley (Calif.) Patients Group, a medical marijuana dispensary, remarked they use marijuana as a substitute for prescription drugs as they think it provided better symptom control with fewer side effects than did prescription drugs. Those with pain symptoms said marijuana has less addiction potential than opioids and others said it helped in reducing the dose of other medications.
Almost 50 percent of those surveyed said they use cannabis two or three times per day. More than 75 percent of respondents said they made use of cannabis for psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and persistent insomnia. Dr. Reiman reported at the American Psychiatric Association’s Institute on Psychiatric Services that patients believe marijuana didn’t leave them feeling like “zombies.”
Dr. Reiman said about 75% had health insurance that covered prescriptions and “they are still opting to utilize medical cannabis, which is not covered by insurance.”
“Instead of having a pain medication, an antianxiety medication, and a sleep medication, they are able to just use cannabis, and that controls all of those symptoms,” said Amanda Reiman, Ph.D., the director of research and social services at the Berkeley center.- Tags: cannabis, medical cannabis, medical marijuana, medical marijuana dispensary, use marijuana, use of cannabis
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