Giving away free marijuana through harm reduction programs could reduce drug overdose deaths and improve the quality of life of people with substance use disorders, according to the findings of a recent study. The research, which was reported on by online cannabis news source Marijuana Moment, was published last week in the peer-review Harm Reduction Journal.
The research is a case study investigating the effects of a cannabis donation program in rural Michigan. The authors of the study say the research is the first to document the impact of such a program in the United States. The authors, including researchers at the nonprofit RTI International, the Rutgers University School of Social Work and San Francisco General Hospital, concluded that distributing free cannabis as a method of harm reduction has “potential for sustainability dependent on state laws.”
“While the policies surrounding the regulation and distribution of cannabis can still present barriers towards this practice,” the authors wrote, “harm reduction staff working in the field see the potential benefits of cannabis, which include reduced premature death, improved quality of life, pain moderation, increased recovery outcomes, and improved safety for clients and community.”
Cannabis donated through harm reduction programs to people with substance abuse problems could lead ... [+]
The study included ten “cannabis-experienced harm reduction clients” who received free cannabis weekly via pickup or deliveries, “with clinical staff determining client interest and appropriateness.” Study participants were observed for the research between September 2021 through May 2023.
Researchers Report Benefits Of Free Cannabis As Harm Reduction
When clinical staff reported on their experience with their clients, they shared some of the benefits the clients were getting from the donated cannabis. One participant, described as 50 or older, “had spinal fusion neck surgery (with the installation of two steel rods, three connectors, and six bolts) five months into the study.”
“Before the surgery, this person had not used opioids for two years (as evidenced by criminal legal mandated urine drug screens) but reported frequent struggles in denying himself alcohol,” the authors wrote. “With their use of the products donated by this program, this individual reported complete abstinence from alcohol while recovering from their surgery and since. They expressed gratitude for topical pain relief with cannabis pain cream, cannabis vape cartridges, and flower for smoking.”
Another client “in her 20s was pregnant, homeless, and a methamphetamine and opioid dependent injector at the beginning of the study,” the authors noted in the research. “She reported that with the use of products donated in this program, she used methamphetamine and opioids less frequently, and actively worked with harm reduction agency staff to get on MOUD [medications for opioid use disorder] while pregnant.”
Cannabis As A Treatment For Substance Misuse Disorders
Dr. Peter Grinspoon, a primary care physician, educator and cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the author of Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Marijuana, says that the study “is absolutely consistent with what I’ve heard and seen in clinical practice.” However, he notes that the study relied on survey data rather than being a randomized clinical trial, so more rigorous research on the subject is needed.
Grinspoon adds that “the ‘traditional’ medications for opioid use disorder (methadone, buprenorphene/Suboxone) have been shown to reduce overdoses and mortality by 50% and cannabis hasn’t been shown to do this yet, so these are first-line treatments.”
“There is good data for the pharmacological treatments of alcohol use disorder as well,” Grinspoon writes in an email. “That said, cannabis can help with many of the things that fuel opioid addiction, or alcohol use disorder, such as untreated anxiety, withdrawal symptoms, undertreated pain and insomnia. I think that cannabis donation (which mitigates the problems of accessibility and affordability) has great potential for harm reduction with opioid use disorder, alcohol use disorder and other substance use disorders.”
The authors of the study acknowledged that their findings are a “starting point for inquiry into cannabis donation as a harm reduction strategy.” They also called for further research, saying additional study is needed “to fully understand the individual-level outcomes, public health impacts, necessary legal regulations, and best practices for cannabis donation.”
“Until then, given the ongoing overdose mortality stemming from illicitly produced fentanyl and other synthetic contaminants saturating the unregulated drug market, and the potential benefits of cannabis in reducing this unregulated substance use,” the authors wrote, “harm reduction practitioners will continue to support client self-determination, and mutual aid in all forms, including available safe psychoactive substances, for persons who use drugs.”
