ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2023
Cannabis use to manage opioid cravings among people who use unregulated opioids during a drug toxicity crisis.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07148206 (Dronabinol and Epidiolex to Manage Uncontrolled Residual Symptoms of Buprenorphine Initiation Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Dronabinol and Epidiolex to Manage Uncontrolled Residual Symptoms of Buprenorphine Initiation Trial
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cannabinoid exposure across substance use disorders: Short-term symptom benefits without sustained therapeutic gains in a tier-weighted systematic review.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Pooled it
- Cannabis Use Among Individuals Treated with Medication for Opioid Use Disorder: Correlates, Patterns, and Motivations for Use.Substance use & addiction journal · 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
- Cannabis Use in Opioid Maintenance Therapy: Prevalence, Clinical Correlates and Reasons for Use.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Clinical and psychosocial changes in adults with opioid use disorder and chronic pain using medical cannabis: a brief report.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- Conceptualizing 'cannabis harm reduction': lessons learned from cannabis compassion clubs and medical dispensaries in British Columbia (Canada).Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Cannabis use and illicit opioid cessation among people who use drugs living with chronic pain.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Exploring Natural Analgesics for Chronic Pain Management: Cannabinoids and other Phytoconstituents.Current medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- "Smoking weed it gets you over the hump": Cannabis co-use as a facilitator of decreased opioid use among people who inject drugs in Los Angeles, California.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2024Article
- "Everything is kind of the same except my mind is with me": exploring cannabis substitution in a sample of adults in early recovery from an opioid or stimulant addiction.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Cannabis donation as a harm reduction strategy: a case study.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Cannabis use to manage stimulant cravings among people who use unregulated drugs.Addictive behaviors · 2024Article
- Depoliticization of Violence: Critical Limits of Risk Environment Frameworks in Drug Use Research.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAccumulating evidence has indicated that cannabis substitution is often used as a harm reduction strategy among people who use unregulated opioids (PWUO) and people living with chronic pain. We sought to investigate the association between cannabis use to manage opioid cravings and self-reported changes in opioid use among structurally marginalized PWUO.
methodsThe data were collected from a cross-sectional questionnaire administered to PWUO in Vancouver, Canada. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the association between cannabis use to manage opioid cravings and self-reported changes in unregulated opioid use.
resultsA total of 205 people who use cannabis and opioids were enrolled in the present study from December 2019 to November 2021. Cannabis use to manage opioid cravings was reported by 118 (57.6%) participants. In the multivariable analysis, cannabis use to manage opioid cravings (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07, 4.27) was significantly associated with self-reported reductions in opioid use. In the sub-analyses of pain, cannabis use to manage opioid cravings was only associated with self-assessed reductions in opioid use among people living with moderate to severe pain (aOR = 4.44, 95% CI: 1.52, 12.97). In the sub-analyses of males and females, cannabis use to manage opioid cravings was only associated with self-assessed reductions in opioid use among females (aOR = 8.19, 95% CI: 1.20, 55.81).
conclusionsThese findings indicate that cannabis use to manage opioid cravings is a prevalent motivation for cannabis use among PWUO and is associated with self-assessed reductions in opioid use during periods of cannabis use. Increasing the accessibility of cannabis products for therapeutic use may be a useful supplementary strategy to mitigate exposure to unregulated opioids and associated harm during the ongoing drug toxicity crisis.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.