Pot could help opioid addicts, study finds

Researchers from UBC and the B.C. Centre on Substance Use have found that cannabis use by opioid-addiction patients might improve their treatment outcomes.

They also found that it could reduce their risk of being exposed to fentanyl in the contaminated unregulated drug supply.

In a paper published Thursday in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the researchers found that 53 per cent of the 819 study participants in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside were intentionally or inadvertently using fentanyl, despite being on opioid agonist treatments (OAT) like methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone, according to a news release from UBC.

Researchers found that those in the study who had urine tests positive for THC, the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, were about 10 per cent less likely to have fentanyl-positive urine, putting them at lower risk of a fentanyl overdose, according to UBC.

“These new findings suggest that cannabis could have a stabilizing impact for many patients on treatment, while also reducing the risk of overdose,” Dr. Eugenia Socías, a clinician scientist at the Centre on Substance Use and lead author of the study, said in a statement.

“With overdoses continuing to rise across the country, these findings highlight the urgent need for clinical research to evaluate the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids.”

Their findings are in line with other research that suggests some people who use drugs (including those on OAT) may be using cannabis as a harm-reduction or self-medication strategy to reduce their use of illicit opioids by managing cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and pain, anxiety or insomnia.