Researchers there found that between 2014 and 2017, opioid overdoses actually increased by 23 percent in states where medical marijuana had been legalized. New research suggests that opioid overdose deaths did not decline in states that legalized medical marijuanaData paints a different picture depending on whether scientists compare opioid deaths to all marijuana use, recreational or medical marijuana use, and even different geographical breakdowns of dispensaries. Also in 2017, medical marijuana became legal in West Virginia, which has the highest opioid death rate of any US state. Lead study author Dr Keith Humphreys said that the prior decrease in opioid deaths seen in states with legal medical marijuana 'wasn't about the cannabis.' He and his team did not compare opioid overdose deaths to states with legal recreational marijuana.

Source: Daily Mail June 10, 2019 19:06 UTC