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Can legalizing marijuana fight the problem of opioid addiction and fatal overdoses? Two new studies in the debate suggest it may. Pot can relieve chronic pain in adults, so advocates for liberalizing marijuana laws have proposed it as a lower-risk alternative to opioids. But some research suggests marijuana may encourage opioid use, and so might make the epidemic worse. (Ritter, 4/2)

The studies are the latest in a long line of research showing that marijuana availability is associated with reductions in opiate use and misuse. But the Wen and Hockenberry report is significant for finding a link between recreational marijuana and opiate use — most previous research has focused on medical marijuana. There is widespread agreement among doctors and public-health experts that marijuana is effective at treating chronic pain. Doctors often treat that condition with opiate medication, despite little evidence that opiates are effective for it. (Ingraham, 4/2)

Many people end up abusing opioid drugs such as oxycodone and heroin after starting off with a legitimate prescription for pain. The authors argue that people who avoid that first prescription are less likely to end up as part of the opioid epidemic. "We do know that cannabis is much less risky than opiates, as far as likelihood of dependency," says W. David Bradford, a professor of public policy at the University of Georgia. "And certainly there's no mortality risk" from the drug itself. (Harris, 4/2)

States that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes have seen fewer opioid prescriptions for Medicaid patients, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. States with medical marijuana laws had a 5.8 percent lower rate of Medicaid-covered prescriptions for opioids, the study found. (Hellmann, 4/2)

“In this time when we are so concerned — rightly so — about opiate misuse and abuse and the mortality that’s occurring, we need to be clear-eyed and use evidence to drive our policies,” said W. David Bradford, an economist at the University of Georgia and an author of one of the studies. “If you’re interested in giving people options for pain management that don’t bring the particular risks that opiates do, states should contemplate turning on dispensary-based cannabis policies.” (Sheridan, 4/2)

As Illinois officials search for new ways to combat an opioid epidemic that continues to claim a growing number of lives, state Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, is pushing new legislation that would expand the state’s medical cannabis program to give people who have been prescribed opioids a different option for treating their pain. After hearing testimony last spring from medical cannabis patients, Harmon learned they were experiencing fewer side effects than they had while taking opioids — and that medical cannabis was actually giving them “a pathway out of opioid use.” (Schuba, 4/2)