California Democrat and House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, says doctors should be proposing yoga and medical marijuana to patients instead of overprescribing opioids.
“Doctors say, ‘Don’t tell us how many pills we can prescribe.’ Well maybe we should,” said Ms. Pelosi at a press conference last week, reported Marijuana Moment. “Others say there are other ways to relieve stress and relieve pain and that you don’t need opioids in the first place. We are too reliant to transition from them. Marijuana, yoga, all kinds of other things that are homeopathic but are not addictive in this dangerous way.”
Pelosi has supported medical cannabis for years and recently called Jeff Sessions’ policy changes of the topic “shameful.”
Ms. Pelosi’s remarks about marijuana being a safer alternative to opioids were made at an event in support of opioid treatment, prevention and research funding legislation recently filed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), per Tom Angell’s news website.
Pelosi joins her colleague, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in criticizing big Pharma. Senator Gillibrand called out pharmaceutical companies for opposing marijuana legalization, Forbes reported several months ago.
In a CNN Special on Sunday night, the network’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta explored the concept that medical cannabis could help solve or ease the opioid epidemic.
In addition to former NFL lineman Kyle Turley and current Detroit Lion Mike James as spokespeople for the efficacy of medical cannabis in the treatment of pain, a group called “Doctors for Cannabis Regulation” was also highlighted.
The group’s website noted that according to a WebMD/Medscape survey, most American physicians believe that medical cannabis should be legal, and hundreds of thousands of doctors now support legalization of cannabis for consenting adults.
Widely accepted research indicates that US states with access to legal marijuana are seeing reduced opioid overdose rates.
Source: The Weed Blog
