{"id":5685,"date":"2016-03-12T08:10:44","date_gmt":"2016-03-12T08:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=4536"},"modified":"2016-03-12T08:10:44","modified_gmt":"2016-03-12T08:10:44","slug":"heres-how-medical-marijuana-will-slow-down-opioid-abuse-in-pennsylvania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/heres-how-medical-marijuana-will-slow-down-opioid-abuse-in-pennsylvania\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s How Medical Marijuana Will Slow Down Opioid Abuse In Pennsylvania"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/heres-how-medical-marijuana-will-slow-down-opioid-abuse-in-pennsylvania\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>We have a problem in Pennsylvania. Most of us are personally aware of the devastating impact this epidemic has had on our state.<\/p>\n<p>If you don&#8217;t have someone who has suffered within your own family, you likely know someone from your high school class or community who is fighting an uphill battle against this devastating addiction.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s time to do something about opioid abuse in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania&#8217;s opioid abuse epidemic has been rocking the state for several years.<\/p>\n<p>More than 2,500 fatal overdoses were reported in Pennsylvania, last year. According to a recent federal Drug Enforcement Agency report, Pennsylvania is ranked ninth in the nation in per capita deaths from drugs, at almost 19 deaths per 100,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s upsetting that &#8212; off the top of my head &#8212; I can name at least 10 peers who have overdose from opioids &#8212; not to mention the dozens of peers I have seen in and out of rehab for their addictions.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those who became addicted to opioids were prescribed pain medication after surgery or to manage chronic pain conditions, such as back pain or fibromyalgia.<\/p>\n<p>Once their prescription runs out and they&#8217;re physically or mentally hooked, they have few options for replacements.<\/p>\n<p>Many turn to the streets to continue to get their fix and often move from prescription painkillers to less-expensive heroin.<\/p>\n<p>Why aren&#8217;t more Pennsylvanians rallying behind medical marijuana as a safer alternative to pain management?<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvanians should have access to every medical treatment possible for their ailments, especially when those treatments are less likely to lead to long term addiction and heavier drug use.<\/p>\n<p>Legalizing medical marijuana in Pennsylvania gives those who suffer from chronic pain conditions the opportunity to cope with their pain through an organic herb, rather than a highly addictive opioid pain medication.<\/p>\n<p>There are two major reasons many chronic pain patients find switching from opioids to medical marijuana to be life changing.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most frightening aspects of opioid pain medicine is its highly addictive nature.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvanians become addicted to their prescribed medicines after taking it sometimes for only several days, as is the case after a surgery.<\/p>\n<p>For those who rely on this medication to function on a regular basis, it&#8217;s even worse. Those with chronic pain conditions often suffer from debilitating side effects like nausea, constipation, drowsiness, and loopiness loom in addition to the risk of addiction.<\/p>\n<p>According to the August 2015 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Society, Internal Medicine, states that have legalized medical marijuana saw a 25 percent drop in opioid overdoses annually since legalization.<\/p>\n<p>With so much at stake, legalizing medical marijuana should be a priority for all Pennsylvanians.<\/p>\n<p>Not only would this help those who have conditions currently treated by medical marijuana, such as epilepsy, but also to help combat the growing opioid epidemic in our state.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/forums\/international-cannabis-news\/271241-heres-how-medical-marijuana-will-slow-down-opioid-abuse-pennsylvania.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4537 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/heres-how-medical-marijuana-will-slow-down-opioid-abuse-in-pennsylvania.jpg\" alt=\"Rx-opiates-HP\" width=\"737\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Robert Celt <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/opinion\/2016\/03\/heres_how_medical_marijuana_wi.html\" target=\"_blank\">Here&#8217;s How Medical Marijuana Will Slow Down Opioid Abuse In Pennsylvania<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Kaytee Moyer<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/contactus\/\" target=\"_blank\">PennLive<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: None found<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">PennLive<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have a problem in Pennsylvania. Most of us are personally aware of the devastating impact this epidemic has had&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2016\/03\/heres-how-medical-marijuana-will-slow-down-opioid-abuse-in-pennsylvania\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1614,9,1,3],"tags":[4182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}