Ohio Survey Finds Many Medical Cannabis Patients Say They Use Fewer Prescription Painkillers
A survey of roughly 3,500 current and prospective Ohio medical marijuana patients and caregivers found that 77.55% agreed cannabis had reduced their need for prescription painkillers. About 26.78% said it had reduced their use of other illicit drugs.
The findings come from a 2024 survey analysis by Peter Leasure of The Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center. The report examined responses to two statements: “Using marijuana has reduced my need to use prescription painkillers” and “Using marijuana has reduced my use of other illegal drugs.” Participants rated how strongly they agreed or disagreed with each statement.
Only 1.74% of respondents disagreed that cannabis had reduced their use of prescription painkillers, while 1.9% disagreed that it had reduced their use of illicit drugs. The survey was distributed through the Ohio Department of Commerce and online channels connected with Ohio’s medical marijuana program and the university’s research network.
The results also varied according to how often respondents used cannabis. Among daily users, 80.54% agreed that marijuana had reduced their need for prescription painkillers, compared with 70.14% of people who used it less often. For illicit drug use, the corresponding figures were 30.6% and 17.5%.
Those comparisons show an association, not proof that cannabis caused people to stop or reduce using opioids or other drugs. The survey relied on self-reported answers and used a non-random sample, meaning its participants may differ from Ohio’s broader population of patients. It also did not independently verify prescription records, opioid doses, illicit-drug use, or changes in health outcomes.
The report’s authors described the findings as encouraging but called for randomized controlled trials and other comparative research. Such studies could help determine whether cannabis directly reduces opioid use, whether pain relief is sufficient to support a substitution effect, and how cannabis compares with established treatments.
That caution is consistent with the wider research literature. A 2024 systematic review and network meta-analysis in BMJ Open, covering 90 randomized trials and more than 22,000 people with chronic non-cancer pain, found low-certainty evidence that medical cannabis and opioids produced similar, generally modest effects on pain relief and sleep. The review also found moderate-certainty evidence that cannabis led to fewer treatment discontinuations because of adverse events, while noting that the trials were not well suited to measure rare or long-term harms such as dependence or overdose.
Earlier reviews have reached similarly qualified conclusions. A 2021 BMJ systematic review of randomized trials found that non-inhaled cannabis products produced small improvements in pain relief, physical functioning, and sleep compared with placebo, along with side effects including dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, and impaired attention. Separately, a 2024 study of recreational cannabis dispensary access in Oregon linked nearby dispensaries with lower prescription-opioid rates but found no meaningful change in opioid mortality.
Together, these findings suggest that some patients view medical cannabis as a useful addition or alternative to prescription pain treatment, but they do not establish cannabis as a proven replacement for opioids. Decisions about changing pain medication should be made with a qualified clinician, particularly for anyone taking opioids regularly or receiving treatment for substance-use disorder.
The Ohio survey therefore offers an important account of patient experiences and a rationale for further study—not definitive evidence that marijuana prevents opioid dependence, reduces overdose deaths, or works equally well for all people with chronic pain. The Drug Enforcement and Policy Center has continued to examine how drug policy and cannabis regulation affect public health, research, and patient access.
