{"id":20662,"date":"2026-02-07T14:15:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T13:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=20662"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:13:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:13:38","slug":"opioid-use-dropped-in-states-that-legalized-recreational-cannabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2026\/02\/opioid-use-dropped-in-states-that-legalized-recreational-cannabis\/","title":{"rendered":"Opioid use dropped in states that legalized recreational cannabis"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<div class=\"release_date\">Boston University School of Public Health &#8211; News Release <time datetime=\"TODO\">6-Feb-2026<\/time><\/div>\n<div>by Jillian McKoy, Michael Saunders<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>OPENING STATEMENT BY NDPA:<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>We publish this article for its general interest, whilst at the same time noticing several remarks favouring policy change, which suggest this article may be loaded with some degree of bias &#8211; nevertheless it is worthy of study &#8230; we recommend that readers just keep a pinch of salt handy!<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<header>\n<p class=\"subtitle\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>As the federal government begins to loosen restrictions on cannabis, a new study found that removing legal barriers to cannabis use may reduce daily opioid use and, thus, the risk of opioid-related overdoses among people who inject drugs<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Legalizing cannabis for both medical and recreational use may lead to a decline in daily opioid use among people who inject drugs in the United States, according to a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health researcher (BUSPH).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Published in the journal\u00a0<em>Drug and Alcohol Dependence<\/em>, the study found that US states that legalized marijuana for medical and adult recreational use saw a 9-to-11-percentage-point decline in daily opioid use among this population, compared to states that legalized marijuana for medical use only.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">While the\u00a0harms\u00a0and\u00a0benefits\u00a0of cannabis use and cannabis reform continue to be debated on the national stage, these findings highlight one major potential advantage of widespread access to marijuana: this increased access may enable people to substitute their use of the unstable and toxic opioid\u00a0 supply with comparatively safer cannabis and, thus, lower their chances of experiencing opioid-related harms or dying from an overdose. In the US, opioids contribute to more than 75 percent of fatal drug overdoses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The study was published on the heels of a significant shift in US drug policy that will indeed lower restrictions on cannabis. Last December, President Donald Trump\u00a0signed\u00a0an executive order to downgrade cannabis from a Schedule 1 classification (assigned to drugs such as heroin and ecstasy) to a Schedule 3 classification, which refers to drugs that pose minimal to moderate risk of physical or psychological dependence. Nearly all US states and Washington, DC have\u00a0legalized\u00a0cannabis for medical use, while 48 percent of states allow cannabis for adult recreational use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">People who inject drugs are part of a population that is at the epicenter of the opioid\u00a0crisis\u00a0in America, and they stand to benefit the most from policies that increase access to cannabis. By focusing on this group, the study builds upon past research on cannabis use and opioid mortality that has primarily examined the general population\u2014which has a lower risk of experiencing opioid-related harms\u2014with\u00a0mixed\u00a0results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cThe magnitude of decrease in opioid use that we observed among a population that is experienced with opioid use and likely to experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms after reducing this use is very profound and important,\u201d says study lead and corresponding author Dr.\u00a0Danielle Haley, assistant professor of community health sciences at BUSPH.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The takeaway, she says, is that creating a safe and regulated supply of a substance is a valuable overdose prevention tactic because it can reduce use of non-regulated and more dangerous substances. \u201cLegalized cannabis tends to be higher quality and more potent. As these products become more available and cheaper, people might be able to reduce their opioid use even without increasing how\u00a0<em>often<\/em>\u00a0they use cannabis.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">For the study, Dr. Haley and colleagues utilized data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s National HIV Behavioral Surveillance, including self-reported use of cannabis and non-medical opioid use among within the last 12 months among nearly 29,000 people who inject drugs, comparing data from states that did not legalize cannabis, legalized it for medical use only, or legalized it for both medical and adult recreational use. The data spanned 13 states in four waves: 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The decline in opioid use was equivalent across all racial and ethnic groups, as well as among males and females.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cThis study adds to a growing body of evidence that sensible changes to our outdated drug policies can have a positive health impact, especially among some of our most vulnerable neighbors,\u201d says study coauthor Dr.\u00a0Leo Beletsky, professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The team did not observe overall links between cannabis legalization and daily cannabis use, but cannabis use did increase by five percentage points among White participants living in states that transitioned from no legalization to legalizing cannabis for medical use only. This increase among White participants could reflect long-standing racial inequities in healthcare that make it easier for White people to navigate health systems and services than people of other races, the researchers say.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">Understanding how policies related to substance use benefit the health of people who use drugs is essential for effective cannabis reform.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">\u201cWhat this study shows is the potential impact of decriminalization paired with access to a regulated supply,\u201d says Stephen Murray, adjunct clinical assistant professor of community health sciences at BUSPH, who is also an overdose survivor and former paramedic with expertise in overdose prevention. Murray was not involved in the study. \u201cWhen legal barriers are removed and people have safer alternatives available, we see meaningful reductions in daily opioid use\u2014even among people with long histories of injection drug use. That\u2019s a powerful signal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">But the findings also serve as a reminder that the design and implementation of these policies matter, he says. \u201cCommercialized access to cannabis does not benefit all communities equally, and without intentional equity-focused policy, longstanding racial disparities in healthcare access and criminalization can persist even under legalization.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The researchers say future research should further investigate links between legal medical and recreational cannabis and reduced opioid use, as well consider benefits in other areas, such as a reduction in cases of blood-borne infections through injection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\">The study\u2019s senior author is Dr.\u00a0Hannah Cooper, Rollins Chair of Substance Use Disorders Research and professor of behavioral, social, and health education sciences at Emory University\u2019s Rollins School of Public Health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>**\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em>About Boston University School of Public Health\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Founded in 1976, Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top ten ranked schools of public health in the world. It offers master&#8217;s- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations\u2014especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable\u2014locally and globally.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>SOURCE:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boston University School of Public Health &#8211; News Release 6-Feb-2026 by Jillian McKoy, Michael Saunders OPENING STATEMENT BY NDPA: We publish this article for its general interest, whilst at the same time noticing several remarks favouring policy change, which suggest this article may be loaded with some degree of bias &#8211; nevertheless it is worthy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,129,68,135,40,36,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cannabis-marijuana","category-culture","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-opioids","category-prevention-research","category-treatment-addiction","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20662"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20663,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20662\/revisions\/20663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}