Part 2 in the Mythbusters Series
Welcome to part 2 of our Mythbusters series, where we’re bringing the data to light. Today’s topic is opioids.
This is a heavy area of focus, especially in light of the increases in opioid mortality. We also do not expect our data finding to be the all-encompassing solution to the opioid crisis.
Our objective here, is to highlight that the wide assumption that legalization of one drug type will lead to widespread usage of other drug types is not always accurate.
Myth 2: legalizing cannabis will increase opioid usage
Reality: the presence of legal cannabis dispensaries decreased opioid deaths in surrounding communities
This simple research study by Hsu and Kovács utilizes regression modelling on existing U.S. federal data and aggregate cannabis dispensary storefront data from weedmaps to examine the relationship between cannabis dispensaries and opioid deaths.
Their findings estimated a 17% reduction in opioid deaths by increasing dispensaries by 1-2 storefronts per county. A further 8.5% reduction in deaths was found with another 2-3 additional dispensary storefronts.
Part 3 will be last in our series, so come back in another couple days.
*Data was sourced from Hsu & Kovács (2021). doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4957.
