Opioid-tracking data from the Drug Enforcement Administration shows 26% less retail-pharmacy codeine distribution in states with legal adult-use cannabis
An academic study of opioid-tracking data from the Drug Enforcement Administration revealed a significant drop in retail codeine sales in states with legal adult-use cannabis, but little impact on prescription opioid activity.
The study, published last week in the journal Health Economics, tracked a 26% reduction in retail pharmacy-based codeine distribution between 2010 and 2019 in nearly a dozen states that allow adults 21 and older to buy pot.
“This finding is suggestive that recreational cannabis legalization may help achieve reductions in opioid misuse, as codeine is a lower-potency opioid with high potential for misuse,” said the study, which was initially reported by the cannabis news site Marijuana Moment. “The finding that recreational cannabis laws appear to reduce codeine dispensing is potentially promising from a public health perspective.”
The overall findings also support the theory that reductions in opioid demand affected by recreational cannabis laws may be evidence of decreased opioid misuse more than decreased use of prescription opioids to manage chronic pain.
“We do not find statistically significant reductions in the distribution of any other opioids, nor do we find statistically significant reductions in hospital-based codeine distribution,” the study said.
The study was authored by Shyam Raman at Cornell University, Johanna Catherine Maclean at George Mason University, W. David Bradford at the University of Georgia and Coleman Drake at the University of Pittsburgh. The researchers tapped data from Alaska; California; Colorado; Washington, D.C.; Maine; Massachusetts; Michigan; Nevada; Oregon; Vermont; and Washington, which had adult-use cannabis laws introduced between 2010 and 2019.
The study’s primary data source was the DEA’s automation of reports and consolidated orders system, known as ARCOS, which tracks the path of opioids and other drugs up to distribution to patients by retail pharmacies, hospitals, specialists and other outlets.
H/T: www.morningstar.com
