Treatment money off-limits for medical pot

Officials restrict funds used for opioid efforts

The U.S. government is barring federal dollars meant for opioid addiction treatment from being used on medical marijuana.

The move is aimed at states that allow marijuana for medical uses, particularly those letting patients with opioid addiction use pot as a treatment, said Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, whose federal agency doles out money to states for treatment programs.

“There’s zero evidence for that,” McCance-Katz said. “We felt that it was time to make it clear we did not want individuals receiving funds for treatment services to be exposed to marijuana and somehow given the impression that it’s a treatment.”

It’s the latest example of the legal standoff between federal and state governments on marijuana. While cannabis is considered an illegal drug by federal officials, 33 states allow patients, with a doctor’s approval, to use it for medical purposes. About a dozen, including Nevada, also allow recreational use.

The new restriction applies to the federal government’s two main grant programs for opioid treatment and an older grant program that supports state efforts to treat alcoholism and drug addiction. The rule affects billions of dollars from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Last week, federal officials held a phone call with state officials to spell out the restriction: Grant money can’t be used to directly or indirectly buy marijuana or permit treatment with pot. The rule also applies to using marijuana to treat mental health disorders.

It does not apply to grants from other federal agencies for research on medical marijuana.

Addiction treatment programs must document their efforts to urge patients to stop if they are using marijuana for mental health disorders or addiction, or the programs risk losing federal money, McCance-Katz said.

Each state decides which ailments are on their medical marijuana lists. Many allow patients, with a doctor’s approval, to use it for chronic pain and symptoms of multiple sclerosis, where there is scientific evidence. Other states have approved health conditions with less scientific backing, like post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety, swayed by firsthand experience from residents.

The evidence that marijuana helps some patients use fewer opioids comes from anecdotal reports or surveys of drug users, which is not the type of research that can prove cause and effect. This year a study shot down the notion that medical marijuana laws can prevent opioid overdose deaths.

Yet the overdose crisis has caused New York, New Jersey and other states to turn to marijuana on the premise that pot “is far less risky than injecting heroin or fentanyl, so why not try it?” said Leo Beletsky, a public health policy expert at Northeastern University in Boston.

Julio Cortez The Associated Press file A worker at the Compassionate Care Foundation’s medical marijuana dispensary trims leaves off marijuana plants in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., on March 22.