HARRISBURG — Some Pennsylvania cannabis companies are using incomplete or misleading claims to promote marijuana as a treatment for opioid addiction, potentially putting patients’ lives at greater risk, a Spotlight
As part of a first-of-its-kind review, Spotlight PA investigated claims made on Pennsylvania cannabis companies’ websites and found a wide range of misleading tactics.
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Some Pennsylvania cannabis companies are using incomplete or misleading claims to promote marijuana as a treatment for opioid addiction,
The recently reported news that drug overdose deaths jumped by a shocking 30% in 2020 has reminded us that COVID-19 is not the only public health crisis facing our nation. Policymakers, public health officials, and law enforcement are all now working to identify the source of the problem and stop the death and destruction on our streets.
Data suggests that illegal opioids, especially a flood of illicit fentanyl manufactured in China and trafficked by Mexican drug cartels, are what is driving this surge in overdoses. According to the CDC, deaths from synthetic opioids increased 12-fold from 2013-2019, and that rise has only continued in 2020. Fentanyl is not only used to lace heroin and other street drugs to provide a more potent high but it is also pressed into counterfeit pills made to look like legitimate prescriptions that are dangerous cocktails of the synthetic opioid and other drugs. The best course of action would be to direct as many law enforcement resources as possible