Medical marijuana policies and hospitalizations related to marijuana and opioid pain reliever.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Twenty-eight states in the U.S have legalized medical marijuana, yet its impacts on severe health consequences such as hospitalizations remain unknown. Meanwhile, the prevalence of opioid pain reliever (OPR) use and outcomes has increased dramatically. Recent studies suggested unintended impacts of legalizing medical marijuana on OPR, but the evidence is still limited. This study examined the associations between state medical marijuana policies and hospitalizations related to marijuana and OPR.

Methods

State-level annual administrative records of hospital discharges during 1997-2014 were obtained from the State Inpatient Databases (SID). The outcome variables were rates of hospitalizations involving marijuana dependence or abuse, opioid dependence or abuse, and O

SUBMITTER: Shi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5385927 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature