A top state official is not stopping his call for legalized recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania.
Earlier this year, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said the commonwealth could help balance its budget with the tax revenue from legal marijuana. Now, he says it could help in the opioid crisis too.
“Marijuana is a much safer alternative than opioids,” DePasquale said. “So the connection I’m drawing is there are times when people will smoke marijuana as a way to reduce their pain (instead of turning to opioids).”
DePasquale says research shows that opioid overdose death rates were 25 percent lower in states that allow medical marijuana, and he thinks that effect can extend to recreational use as well.
He says he’s not trying to play doctor, he’s just looking at the numbers.
Photo by tanjila
