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This article outlines what opioids are, how they work, and the dangers of opioid addiction and abuse while also highlighting the benefits of medical cannabis as an alternative and effective form of pain management.\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n

\"Today's<\/h2>\n

Today’s world faces the genuine health crisis of opioid drug abuse. What began as a seemingly well-intentioned drug movement to help millions manage their pain has devolved into a full-on nightmare scenario of rampant addiction, drug dependency, and countless deaths. In hopes of curbing the opioid epidemic, medical cannabis is being explored for its potential opioid reduction qualities.<\/p>\n

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\"Opioids<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What Are Opioids and Opiates and How Do They Work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Opioid” is a catch-all term used to describe a broad class of depressant drugs designed to relieve chronic and acute pain. Opiates refer to the naturally occurring compounds derived from the opium poppy. Examples of well-known opioids include morphine and codeine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are two main classifications of opioids: semi-synthetic and synthetic. Semi-synthetic opioids are hybrids that are composed of both natural and chemically manipulated opiate compounds. Well-known examples of semi-synthetic opioids are heroin, Percocet, and Vicodin. <\/strong>On the other hand, synthetic opioids are entirely human-made, and while they closely mimic the effects of opiates, they are not derived from the opium plant. Well-known synthetic opioids are methadone and fentanyl.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All opiates are opioids, but not all opioids are opiates. Both opiates and opioids work by binding to the brain’s opioid receptors and subsequently interrupt or completely halt pain messages from being transmitted from the body to the brain.<\/p>\n

An easy way to think about this is to imagine your nervous system as an intricate network or highway and the cars on this highway represent various sensory signals. Opioids act as roadblocks that prevent those signals from travelling through your nervous system.<\/p>\n

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\"OpioidsThe Addiction Potential of Opioids<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When opioids block pain signals, they also flood the brain’s reward center with copious amounts of “feel-good” hormone, dopamine. The resulting overstimulation produces intense feelings of calm, euphoria, and relaxation. It is these unnatural euphoric effects that can lead many people to crave this sensation over and over again and thus leaving them vulnerable to misuse and addiction.<\/p>\n

Many doctors will abruptly discontinue a patient’s opioid prescription if they suspect that the patient is abusing their opioid medication. Sudden discontinued opioid use results in extraordinarily unpleasant and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms include muscle cramps, insomnia, nausea, anxiety, and depression.<\/strong> This is the inflection point where some users resort to finding illegal opioid street drugs to alleviate painful withdrawal symptoms. Because the human body builds up a tolerance to opioids so quickly, this causes abusers to seek ever-increasingly stronger doses to attain the same “high,” which often results in accidental overdoses.<\/p>\n

Given the status of legalized cannabis in Canada, patients currently prescribed opiate-based medications are exploring medical cannabis for their chronic pain needs. This article uses current scientific studies to demonstrate how medical cannabis can curb and even possibly replace opioids as a useful tool for managing chronic pain.<\/p>\n

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\"TheHow the Opioid Crisis Began\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The origins of the modern-day opioid crisis trace back to the early 1990s. Drug companies observed that over a third of the U.S population was suffering from some form of chronic pain.<\/p>\n

One drug company, in particular, Purdue Pharma, saw the public chronic pain problem as a lucrative opportunity to aggressively push its own patented opioid, Oxycontin. They marketed Oxycontin as an effective cure-all for anything from lower back pain, arthritis to migraine headaches. The driving strategy behind Purdue Pharma\u2019s marketing campaign was downplaying the true addiction potential of opioids.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oxycontin\u2019s promotional machine proved to be very successful and set global opioid production into overdrive. From 1991 to 2011, medical prescriptions for opioid-related painkillers shot up from 76 million to 219 million.<\/strong> From 1996 to 2012, worldwide sales of Oxycontin skyrocketed from USD 48 million to more than USD 2.4 billion.<\/strong> As of this writing, Oxycontin has made upwards of $35 billion since 1996. But the staggering profits came at an unbelievable price.<\/p>\n

\"\"Over 200,000 American people have died from opioid-related deaths since Oxycontin was introduced to the market in 1996. <\/strong>The fears that drug companies like Purdue Pharma fought so diligently to suppress and contain soon came to light. It was clear that some patients were starting to abuse their opioid medication, as well as suffering from severe drug dependency, withdrawal, and incidents of overdosing.<\/p>\n

All of the following contributing factors from doctors’ willingness to over-prescribe to millions of eager chronic pain sufferers, coupled with opioid misinformation, created the perfect storm of drug abuse and addiction.<\/p>\n

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\"StateFounders of Purdue Pharma Sued for Alleged Role in Opioid Crisis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Sackler family, one of the wealthiest families in America and founders of Purdue Pharma, are currently being sued by the state of New Jersey as well as other states for intentionally deceiving the public about the real dangers of opioid use. Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, Gurbir Grewal places the blame squarely on the Sackler family in enabling the opioid crisis:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sackler family built a multi-billion-dollar drug empire based on addiction.<\/strong> Despite knowing the harms that would result, the Sacklers drove Purdue to pursue deceitful sales campaigns for OxyContin and other highly addictive opioid painkillers,<\/strong> campaigns that were dutifully carried out by a small army of the company\u2019s employees. Our communities are still reeling from the epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths caused by their misconduct.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Back in 2007, Purdue Pharma, after pleading guilty to misleading doctors and patients about the dangers of Oxycontin, paid a whopping $600 million settlement.<\/p>\n

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\"Canada<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Canada’s Opioid <\/strong>Problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Canada is the second-highest consumer of opioids behind only the United States and faces its own dire issues with opioid misuse, addiction, and abuse. As per the government of Canada, there have been more than 9,000 opioid deaths<\/strong> since 2016 alone. The problem continually worsens, with approximately 11 deaths each day directly attributed to opioids. That’s not to speak of the countless hospitalized people from overdoses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Provinces that have been burdened the most by opioid use, whether prescription or illegal, are western provinces, British Columbia and Alberta, as well as both the Yukon and Northwest Territories. In recent years, there has been an uptick in deaths from potent synthetic opioid, Fentanyl, which is 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin.<\/p>\n

But hope is on the way. Cannabis legalization in Canada has steadily encouraged the study, usage, and application of medical cannabis in curbing opioid use and, in some cases, even outright replacing it. Rigorous scientific studies have already proven the efficacy of medical cannabis as a valid form of pain management.<\/p>\n

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\"Medical<\/strong><\/h2>\n

How Medical Cannabis Can Help the Opioid Problem <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The war on opioids is a battle waged on two fronts: reducing opioid use with current chronic pain patients and treating opioid addiction and withdrawal. The reason why some people form opioid addictions, while others do not, is dependent on individual factors like genetic predisposition, brain chemistry, and length of prescribed use. Opioids are meant for short-term pain treatment and have limited long-term efficacy due to rapid tolerance-building and growing physical dependence.<\/p>\n

A study from an independent medical science publisher, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., surveyed 2897 medical cannabis patients. Their goal was ascertaining how medical cannabis affected their pain treatment. 34% indicated using some form of opioid medication in the past six months to treat their pain. The results of the survey are as follows:<\/p>\n