From 2015 to today, opioid-related deaths have spiked in percentages, up to 40% of deaths by drugs, with an increasing number of dependency cases worldwide, leading to lower and lower mortality levels by the day. Prescription medication, whether obtained legally or illegally, is being manufactured by the millions, turning it’s users into full-blown addicts, competing with heroin and methamphetamine-related deaths. Although, physicians have been looking for alternatives to eliminate patients becoming dependents with implementing processes like the CDC: Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain and other prescriptions to battle chemical imbalances from addiction, heavy doses of pain medication such as oxycodone (Percocet, Vicoden) have proven to be harder to kick than they thought. As the opioid crisis continues to cripple the American people, racking up thousands of deaths by overdose in the last ten years, cannabis has proven to be a safe alternative that is changing the way we all think of medicine.
Traditional Western medical practices have shunned natural alternatives for pain medication for decades, with physicians prescribing outrageous amounts of meds to suffering patients, including those battling cancer, injured workers on L&I, those recovering from life-altering surgery, and the mentally unstable. Long term effects of opioid abuse can subject one to possible abdominal distention, liver damage, and brain damage, due to respiratory depression. Those that end up surviving an overdose on opioids or those that take the steps to get clean are never the same again, either.
Washington State’s legalization of cannabis has become a gateway for medical patients to safely manage chronic issues. Whether it’s physical pain management or mental instabilities, cannabis has proven on the medical side of use to be the healthiest and safest substitute to prescription pills. In states where cannabis is available medically, the Rockefeller Institute of Government has culminated studies showing patients using medical marijuana use 14.4% fewer opioids. Washington was the first state to recognize the increasing numbers in opioid abuse, trying to create different ways to prevent overdosing, rehabilitate, and counsel addicts.
Although some consider the opioid crisis as a dying trend, millions across the world deal with this problem whether directly (using), or indirectly (family members, friends). Cannabis, being merely a plant, not an FDA-approved mix of potentially harmful chemicals, has saved many lives, including recovering heroin addicts, long term cancer patients, both active and in recession, the HIV positive, and so many more. Kush21 provides every form of marijuana consumption to combat your ailments, from over 100 different strains to smoke and vape to cannabis-infused edibles, tinctures, and even topicals for joint pain. If opioids are effecting your life negatively, we at Kush21, advise that you talk with someone to seek help. Although the pain of addiction can be crippling, it never hurts to ask for a helping hand.
Call 1-800-662-HELP or visit https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline if you have an addiction and want to quit.
