In states where medical cannabis is legal, recent studies have shown a 25 percent reduction in prescription opioid overdose deaths," Dr. David L. Nathan said. "We can't say that reduction is necessarily because of cannabis use, but the correlation is worth our attention. In 2015 alone, almost 1,600 people in New Jersey died from drug overdoses, mostly from opioids like heroin and fentanyl. In a situation this dire, we need to look at anything and everything with the potential to curb opioid addiction, which often begins with prescription opioid medications.
Read the article at New Jersey 101.5
David L. Nathan, MD, DFAPA is a psychiatrist, writer, and educator in Princeton NJ. He is the founder of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation and served as our first President. Dr. Nathan is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. While maintaining a full-time private practice, he serves as Director of Continuing Medical Education for the Princeton HealthCare System (PHCS) and Director of Professional Education at Princeton House Behavioral Health (PHBH). While serving on the steering committee of New Jersey United For Marijuana Reform (NJUMR.org), Dr. Nathan was surprised by the absence of any national organization to act as the voice of physicians who wish to guide our nation along a well-regulated path to cannabis legalization. This need was the inspiration for Doctors for Cannabis Regulation.
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