One large problem across America today is the number of people who are reliant upon and are even addicted to prescription drugs. Prescription drugs can be highly expensive, addictive and can come with a whole host of unwanted side effects, including death from an adverse reaction to the drug or overdose.
To fix this increasing problem, offering patients the chance to smoke pot instead could be a solution. A recent study, carried out by the University Of Georgia, has concluded that those states that have offered residents access to legal medical marijuana have seen a significant reduction in the amount of prescription drug use in the state. The study also found that the government has saved money due to fewer Medicare patients requiring medication.
The research carried out by the university analyzed prescriptions from Medicare patients that had been filed between 2010 and 2013. The research looked only at medication for conditions where medical marijuana could be used as an alternative method of medication. There were 9 conditions in total and of these conditions, 8 of them had seen a reduction in prescription requests in the wake of medical marijuana legalization.
2013 was a big year for supporters of marijuana legalization and by this year, 17 states and Washington DC had legalized marijuana for medical use. In this year, the Medicare drug program found that it had made more than $165 million in savings. Had the rest of the states in America offered their citizens the option to use medical marijuana, Medicare would have had savings in the region of $468 million.
The savings made by the Medicare Part D plan were around half a percent of the total spent by the plan, which came to $103 billion. The university also concluded that the research had shown that patients would be happy to use alternative medication, even if that alternative wasn’t covered by their medical insurance.
Of the 9 conditions that were monitored, glaucoma was the only one where there had been an increase in prescriptions that had been issued for medication. Glaucoma is an eye condition that can cause loss of vision due to increased pressure in the eye damaging the optic nerve.
Although it is common knowledge that medical marijuana can be used to lower the pressure that glaucoma patients experience, it is still not as effective as prescription eye drops. In order for marijuana to continuously keep pressure low, the patient would need to use marijuana up to 8 times per day as the effects only last for about 3 hours. This would not be convenient or cost effective for most glaucoma patients.
All in all, this research shows just how much difference medical marijuana can make for the financial health of the medical profession.
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