Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government
Veterans Benefits and Health Care About VA Find a VA Location

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Legalization of Cannabis Does Not Reduce Opioid Prescribing in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis.

Noureldin M, Van T, Cohen-Mekelburg S, Scott FI, Higgins PDR, Stidham RW, Hou J, Waljee AK, Berinstein JA. Legalization of Cannabis Does Not Reduce Opioid Prescribing in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis. The American journal of gastroenterology. 2024 Oct 1; 119(10):2130-2133.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions


Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: Cannabis may provide inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients with an alternative to opioids for pain. METHODS: We conducted a difference-in-difference analysis using MarketScan. Changes over time in rates of opioid prescribing were compared in states with legalized cannabis to those without. RESULTS: We identified 6,240 patients with IBD in states with legalized cannabis and 79,272 patients with IBD in states without legalized cannabis. The rate of opioid prescribing decreased over time in both groups and were not significantly different (attributed differential = 0.34, confidence interval -13.02 to 13.70, P = 0.96). DISCUSSION: Opioid prescribing decreased from 2009 to 2016 among patients with IBD in both states with legalized and state without legalized cannabis, similar to what has been observed nationally across a variety of diseases. Cannabis legalization was not associated with a lower rate of opioid prescribing for patients with IBD.




Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.