Blum Holdings Inc (BLMH)

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In Spicer’s press conference regarding the potential link between cannabis and opioids is his omission (or ignorance) of the fact that studies increasingly suggest that cannabis legalization results in a reduction of opioid overdoses.

The most exhaustive study on this topic, published in JAMA Internal Medicine in October 2014, analyzed the cause of death data from all states between 1999 and 2010, including states that had legalized medical marijuana during that period. These researchers found that states with medical marijuana programs had fewer opioid related deaths, and that these decreases happened in concert with marijuana reform:

States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8% lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws. Examination of the association between medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in each year after implementation of the law showed that such laws were associated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time.
The data predates the legalization of recreational marijuana in any state, and therefore cannot test the relationship to full legalization — a distinction that Spicer did make in the press conference. It is unclear, however, if this distinction holds any relevance to the opioid epidemic. In January 2017, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a comprehensive review of academic studies concerning cannabis use published since 1999. Importantly, they found no individual study or credible meta-review linking cannabis use to increased opioid use.

While the concept of marijuana as a “gateway drug” remains controversial, there is a near-universal agreement that the opioid crisis was caused by an influx of legal prescription painkillers and is thus unrelated to marijuana use.

Spicer A) would be therefore hard-pressed to find evidence to support his implied connection between recreational cannabis and opioid addiction, and B) would have to find a way to get around an increasing number of studies suggesting that less strict marijuana laws result in fewer opioid deaths.