Cannabis could reduce fentanyl use, BCCSU and UBC study finds

published on December 17, 2020 by Tiffany Crawford in Vancouver Sun

Researchers from UBC and the B.C. Centre on Substance Use have found that cannabis use by opioid addiction patients might improve their treatment outcomes.

They also found that it could reduce their risk of being exposed to fentanyl in the contaminated unregulated drug supply.

In a paper published Thursday in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the researchers found that 53 per cent of the 819 study participants in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside were intentionally or inadvertently using fentanyl, despite being on opioid agonist treatments (OAT) like methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone, according to a news release from UBC.

Researchers found that those in the study who had urine tests positive for THC, the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, were approximately 10 per cent less likely to have fentanyl-positive urine, putting them at lower risk of a fentanyl overdose, according to UBC…