Now that medical marijuana is legally available for purchase in Pennsylvania, will the number of opioid-related overdose deaths decrease?
State Rep. Brian Ellis of Butler believes it’s possible.
“There’s certainly a hope,” Rep. Ellis said in an interview in early February. “The opioid epidemic is something we’re dealing with on many different levels. I’ve had family members who were given options to treat their ailments with opioids. Maybe this would have been a safer alternative. The key is: it’s an option.”
Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche also believes medical marijuana could positively affect the opioid crisis.
“I think it could,” Osche said in an interview with Butler Radio in early February. “I think it still needs to be explored. I think it’s a possibility because it has no addictive quality as you get with an opioid pain treatment. Especially for those who are prone to addiction.”
Earlier this year, the state’s top physician, Acting Secretary of Health and Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine, said opioid prescribing was down by 12 percent during the third quarter of 2017, compared to the same time period the year prior. The change comes after the state took several measures to curb prescribing.
Butler County lost a record-breaking 92 people to drugs last year.
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