10 hours agoA new study is linking state-level medical marijuana legalization to reduced opioid payouts to doctors—another datapoint suggesting that patients use cannabis as an alternative to prescription drugs when given legal access. The study from researchers at the University of Florida, University of Southern California and Purdue University identified “a significant decrease in direct payments from opioid manufacturers to pain medicine physicians as an effect of [medical marijuana law] passage” and found that “physicians in states with an MML are prescribing fewer opioids. can help patients reduce or stop use of opioid painkillers without compromising their quality of life