Pubdate: Sun, 03 May 2015
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2015 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n229/a04.html

MARIJUANA POLICY COULD BE ANSWER TO OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC

Regarding Jeff Jacoby's thoughtful April 26 column "What price is too 
high for a miracle drug?": The need for the anti-overdose drug 
naloxone would be less pressing if Massachusetts had done a better 
job implementing the medical marijuana law passed by voters in 2012. 
Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 
shows that states with open medical marijuana access have a 25 
percent lower opioid overdose death rate than marijuana prohibition 
states. States with established access showed a 33 percent reduction 
in overdose deaths.

This research finding has huge implications for states such as 
Massachusetts that are grappling with prescription opioid and heroin 
overdose deaths. The phrase "if it saves one life" has been used to 
justify all manner of drug war abuses. Legal marijuana access has the 
potential to save thousands of lives.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington
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