Study Says Marijuana Use Rarely Leads To ER Visits
Joe | Jul 20, 2010 | Comments 1
One of the favorite arguments of the anti-legalization crowd is that we really won’t save any money through legalization since workplace accidents and emergency room visits will go up. For most of us, common sense puts this silly theory to rest, but our opponents aren’t big on common sense; they like studies. Well, the first-ever nationwide study was done on marijuana and emergency room visits, and the results are in. Soon, our opponents won’t like studies either.
Among those surveyed, subjects that reported using cannabis were the least likely to report an ED visit (1.71 percent). Respondents who reported lifetime use of heroin, tranquilizers, and inhalants were most likely (18.5 percent, 6.3 percent, and 6.2 percent respectively) to report experiencing one or more ED visits related to their drug use.
Investigators concluded, “[M]arijuana was by far the most commonly used (illicit) drug, but individuals who used marijuana had a low prevalence of drug-related ED visits.”
What accounts for this? First of all, marijuana is a non-toxic plant. Second, marijuana users are not more accident-prone than our non-user counterparts. Some suggest that cannabis users are less accident-prone since marijuana use makes people more cautious. But most importantly, what is there at the ER for a “stoner?” Unless your local emergency department installed a projector screen, and new bumpin’ sound system, or a snack bar, there is little reason for a marijuana user to go there.
And if you’re a medical marijuana patient, there is even less reason to visit the ER. You already have your medicine, and it has far less side effects than the pills most doctors prescribe.
These findings belie the myth that adult marijuana use is a primary cause of hospitalizations or ED visits. The reality is that few if any therapeutic or psychoactive substances possess a safety profile comparable to cannabis.
This is the point we need to keep pounding home: Marijuana/cannabis is safer than just about any other substance known to man. Anti-legalization advocates can preach all day about the supposed “dangers” of cannabis. The fact is, less and less people every day still believe that old propaganda.
Filed Under: Activism • Exclusive Web Content • Politics
[...] Not only doesn’t cannabis use lead to more ER visits, there is no evidence that it is addicting, and the majority people who “seek treatment” for it are forced to by the courts; a problem that will be remedied once marijuana is legal. [...]