ArticleHarm reduction journal2021
Exploring the use of cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs in a convenience sample.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- The clouded debate: A systematic review of comparative longitudinal studies examining the impact of recreational cannabis legalization on key public health outcomes.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Beyond the Diagnostic Binary: A Translational Use of the Research Domain Criteria to Improve the Measurement of Anxiety in the Context of Cannabis Use.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Substitution of Cannabis for Prescribed Medications in the Management of Anxiety and Depression Among Midlife Women: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Self-reported cannabis use to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms and reductions in opioid use among people who use unregulated opioids: a cross-sectional analysis.Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
- Article
- A comparative network analysis to explore cancer patient experiences with cannabis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Cannabis use among primary care patients with depression and anxiety disorders: cross-sectional analysis in a large health system in Los Angeles, CA.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- Medicinal use of non-prescribed cannabis: a cross-sectional survey on patterns of use, motives for use, and treatment access in the Netherlands.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- Exploratory analysis of United States-based cannabis product health benefit claims on online marketplaces.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Frequency of cannabis use and symptoms of anxiety and depression: a cross-sectional analysis of the Colorado cannabis users health cohort.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- The Anticonvulsant Effects of Different Cannabis Extracts in a Zebrafish Model of Epilepsy.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Conceptualizing 'cannabis harm reduction': lessons learned from cannabis compassion clubs and medical dispensaries in British Columbia (Canada).Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Does cannabis use substitute for opioids? A preliminary exploratory survey in opioid maintenance patients.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Rural reticence to inform physicians of cannabis use.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2025Article
- Arkansas Medical Marijuana Certifications: Higher-Volume Physicians Associated With Less Evidence Of Care Coordination.Health affairs (Project Hope) · 2025Article
- Medical Cannabis for Patients Over Age 50: A Multi-site, Prospective Study of Patterns of Use and Health Outcomes.Cannabis (Albuquerque, N.M.) · 2025Article
- Exploring the substitution of cannabis for alcohol and other drugs among a large convenience sample of people who use cannabis.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Association of cannabis use with patient-reported pain measures among adults with chronic pain in US states with medical cannabis programs.Regional anesthesia and pain medicine · 2024Article
- Indirect effects of emotion regulation in the relationship between pain and cannabis use in adults 18-64 years.Addictive behaviors · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe use of cannabis as medicine (CaM) both prescribed and non-prescribed has increased markedly in the last decade, mirrored in a global shift in cannabis policy towards a more permissive stance. There is some evidence that cannabis functions as a substitute for prescription drugs, particularly opioids; however, more knowledge is needed on the motives of substitution users, their patterns of use, and perceived effects of substitution use.
aimsTo explore who substitutes prescription drugs with cannabis, the type of prescription drugs substituted and the type of cannabis used, and the impact that substitution with cannabis has on prescription drug use as well as the motives for substitution in terms of experienced effects and side effects.
methodsA self-selected convenience sample was recruited through social media, public media, and patient organizations to take part in an anonymous online survey. Inclusion criteria were 18 years or older and use of cannabis (prescribed or non-prescribed) with a medical purpose.
resultsThe final sample included 2.841 respondents of which the majority (91%) used non-prescribed cannabis, and more than half (54.6%) had used CaM with the purpose of replacing a prescribed drug. Compared to non-substitution users, substitution users were more likely to be women and to use CaM in the treatment of chronic pain and other somatic conditions. Pain medication (67.2%), antidepressants (24.5%), and arthritis medication (20.7%) were the most common types of drugs replaced with CaM. Among substitution users, 38.1% reported termination of prescription drug use, and 45.9% a substantial decrease in prescription drug use. The most frequent type of cannabis used as a substitute was CBD-oil (65.2%), followed by 'hash, pot or skunk' (36.6%). More than half (65.8%) found CaM much more effective compared to prescription drugs, and 85.5% that the side effects associated with prescription drug use were much worse compared to use of CaM.
conclusionCaM is frequently used as a substitute for prescription drugs, particularly opioids. More research is needed on the long-term consequences of use of CaM, including the impact from low and high THC cannabis products on specific somatic and mental health conditions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.