The failure of the Christie Commission to objectively evaluate the potential role of cannabis in alleviating the opioid crisis out of political concerns… …plus a notable lack of praise from the treatment community and other independent experts about the rest of its findings suggests much unnecessary suffering and unneeded deaths will continue nearly unabated.

“On November 9, Americans for Safe Access, filed two requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for information on any discussions the Commission had about medical cannabis and specifically the only cannabis study referenced in the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis draft final report .

The Opioid Crisis draft lacks any mention of the available and sophisticated clinical research data on the safety of cannabis to treat chronic pain.

The information it presented focused largely on a single study–that was suspiciously released months ahead of schedule–which used survey data obtained before medical cannabis programs were operating in the United States.

‘Trump’s Opioid Commission presented grossly misleading information in its final report, excluding proven strategies to reduce opioid deaths like medical cannabis,’ said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of ASA.

‘The timing of the only study they cite is suspect, as they did not use the best available science about medical cannabis. The practice of ignoring important clinical research, mirrors the data that was ignored in the 1990’s and early 2000’s on cannabis and chronic pain, when opioid prescribing multiplied across health care settings and led to the current epidemic of abuse, misuse, and addiction….”

Much more in the full article…. …recommended.

We’ve opined extensively on the shortcomings of “survey data” studies – especially when the surveys are rooted in many years ago events not even relevant to the crisis.

Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of history…

#MMJ #Opioids #Research #Commission #ASA #USpol #UTpol #TRUCE    

See full article – ASA Files Freedom of Information Act Requests