After a recent legislative session in West Virginia where a Medical Marijuana bill was not only nearly tabled by the House of Representatives, but amended in the hopes of altering the bill in its entirety to benefit ‘big pharma’, the question has come to light: “Is medical marijuana the answer to opiate tapering?”
The advocates for the original bill put it forward in hopes that the Legislature would adopt the bill for the residents who suffer from debilitating diseases and are in need of compassionate care. They also found quickly that some of the people advocating for the bill, hoping it will be signed by the Governor of WV, are fighting for it because it could be the answer to the opiate epidemic that has rocked this state, and many others, in recent years.
The Medical Marijuana Bill, SB 386, was originally introduced by Senator Richard Ojeda (D- Logan) in the WV State Senate, where it was approved 28-6 just last week. According to WSAZ News, “The House version of the bill, which is titled the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, would charge the Bureau of Public Health with regulating medical marijuana growers, processors, and dispensaries, while the Senate version would set up a 16-member independent commission.”
Opiate addiction is higher than ever before and with heroin on the rise medical marijuana, paired with a detox program, as well as natural supplements like Mitadone, could be the complete answer to getting our loved ones clean and sober with a zero to low chance of relapse.
The proof lies in the hundreds of people being treated with medical marijuana in Massachusetts. The Boston Herald reports,
“We have a statewide epidemic of opioid deaths,” said Dr. Gary Witman of Canna Care Docs, a network of facilities that qualifies patients into medical marijuana programs in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Delaware and the District of Columbia. As soon as we can get people off opioids to a non-addictive substance — and medicinal marijuana is non-addicting — I think it would dramatically impact the amount of opioid deaths.’ Witman, who works in a Massachusetts Canna Care clinic, has treated about 80 patients who were addicted to opioids, anti-anxiety medication or muscle relaxers with cannabis through a one-month tapering program. More than three-quarters of patients stopped taking the harder drugs, he told the newspaper. Witman said cannabis can be a safer alternative for managing the symptoms patients had been using opioids to treat, such as chronic pain or anxiety.”
With a wider safety margin medical marijuana is much safer than the prescription alternatives for opiate tapering, and can aid in a healthy, natural detox when done so with the aid of supplements, stress management and a physician.