Editor's Note
New York and Illinois modified existing medical marijuana laws to allow patients with opioid prescriptions or a condition for which an opioid is indicated to buy cannabis at a registered dispensary instead. New York State Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, MD, JD, said in a statement that the action “offers providers another treatment option, which is a critical step in combatting the deadly opioid epidemic affecting people across the state.” In Illinois, Gov Bruce Rauner said the law he signed into effect in August is “creating an alternative to opioid addiction.” Experts say this may be in response to several studies that indicated opioid overdose death rates were lower in states that permit medical marijuana, and that opioid prescribing was lower in Medicaid and Medicare Part D programs in states with legalized medical marijuana.  The full Journal of the American Medical Association article is available as a free download after sign-in.
As state governments grapple with ways to curb the opioid epidemic in their own backyard, New York and Illinois took a relatively new approach last summer by modifying existing medical marijuana laws to allow certain patients to substitute their opioids with medicinal cannabis.

In each state, patients with an opioid prescription or a condition for which an opioid is indicated can instead buy cannabis at a registered dispensary with a physician’s written certification.

After he okayed new regulations, New York State Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, MD, JD, said in a statement that the action “offers providers another treatment option, which is a critical step in combatting the deadly opioid epidemic affecting people across the state.” In Illinois, Gov Bruce Rauner said the law he signed into effect in August is “creating an alternative to opioid addiction.”