Daily use of cannabis could help patients stay on treatment for opioid addiction, according to new research from the University of British Columbia.
Researchers interviewed 820 people initiating opioid agonist treatment (OAT) like methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone over a 10-year period between December 1996 and March 2016. They found that individuals initiating OAT were approximately 21% more likely than non-cannabis users to be retained in treatment at 6 months if they reported daily use of cannabis.
Retention in treatment is critical in the response to the overdose crisis. Mortality risk reduction as a result of sustained engagement in OAT is well-documented. However, previous research from the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) found enormous gaps in retention on OAT. In another 10-year study involving 1,615 daily opioid users in Vancouver, researchers found that only one-third were retained on opioid agonist treatments (OAT) in 2016, the final year of the study.
Eugenia Socias
“Untreated opioid use disorder is a key driver of the overdose crisis in BC and across North America,” said lead author Eugenia Socías, an Assistant Professor in the UBC Division of AIDS and research scientist at BCCSU. “With cannabis use common among people on treatment, these findings highlight the urgent need for clinical research to evaluate the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids as adjunctive treatment to opioid agonist treatment to address the escalating opioid overdose epidemic.”
This is the first study to find a positive correlation between high-intensity cannabis use and retention in treatment among people initiating OAT.
The latest findings add to an emerging body of evidence suggesting cannabis may have beneficial impacts on the health and wellbeing of people who use other substances, especially opioids.
Previous research from the BCCSU found that using cannabis every day was linked to a lower risk of starting to inject drugs and that intentional cannabis use preceded declines in crack use among crack cocaine users.
“The therapeutic benefits of cannabis are only just beginning to be understood,” said M-J Milloy, Assistant Professor in the Division of AIDS and research scientist at BCCSU. “This research suggests that cannabis could have a stabilizing impact for many patients on treatment, while also reducing the risk of overdose. Further examination of its therapeutic value and clinical application is clearly needed.”