In February 2024 the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a 252-page report stating that cannabis is safe. The health authority further noted that cannabis has true potential as a medicine that can help with symptomatic conditions for at least 15 medical indications.
After decades of assertions that there is not enough evidence cannabis is safe and valuable as a medicine, this news is truly transformational. The report from the HHS clearly states that cannabis is a safer alternative to opioids, as it is less addictive* and has a far lower chance of overdose and adverse reactions than any opioid.
No matter what personal bias a lawmaker might have, no matter what social or religious beliefs may have prevented people from advocating for cannabis, this report is a clear sign that cannabis is an alternative to dangerous opioids like oxycodone. The HHS document reports that 30,000 physicians in the US recommend cannabis, and 6,000,000 patients report positive results.
These statistics do not include the millions of adult-use consumers and the countless unregulated market customers in the US. These consumers provide the most significant subset of evidence that cannabis can help individuals in myriad ways.
Further reading: NORML – Relationship Between ‘Marijuana’ and Opiods
Back to Facts in a Little More Depth
*Cannabis sativa is not an addictive substance, it is habit-forming but not, scientifically speaking, addictive