Annual Number of Daily Doses Prescribed Per Physician
- Preliminary research suggests that pain patients in medical cannabis states use 11% fewer opioids.
- Average number of pain reliever doses in medical states was nearly 96,000 in non-medical cannabis states compared to 85,000 in medical states.
- Nationwide, prescriptions of opioid pain relievers jumped 272% in 22 years, from 76 million in 1991 to 207 million in 2013.
- The three most commonly prescribed pain medications covered through Medicare (i.e., OxyContin, Hydrocodone, Fentanyl) cost the government $1.96 billion.
- If medical cannabis was available nationally, the decreased Medicare expenditures on those three drugs alone would result in $220 million in savings for American taxpayers.
