Study Finds No Significant Link Between Cannabis Use and Relapse in OUD Patients

A meta-analysis of 10 longitudinal studies published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse found no significant link between cannabis use and relapse on non-medical opioids among patients receiving medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

“The primary takeaway from these analyses is that opioid treatment programs should continue to administer life-saving medications for opioid use disorder, irrespective of whether patients concurrently use cannabis,” study lead investigator Joao P. De Aquino, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University, said in a news release.

For the meta-analysis, researchers reviewed 10 longitudinal studies with a combined 8367 patients who received either methadone (76.3% of patients), buprenorphine (21.3%), or naltrexone (2.4%) as part of their treatment for OUD. Average follow-up time across the studies analyzed was 9.7 months, with a range of 4 to 15 months.

Researchers evaluated the likelihood of non-medical opioid use among patients with cannabis use, as compared to a group of patients who were not using cannabis during treatment for OUD. Both unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were extracted, along with their respective confidence intervals. The pooled odds ratio of the 10 studies included in the meta-analysis suggested that cannabis use does not significantly impact non-medical opioid use.

The findings indicate that treatment programs could improve addiction care by considering OUD patients’ cannabis use on a case-by-case basis rather than requiring complete abstinence from cannabis use across the board for all OUD patients.

“[T]hese data suggest healthcare systems should adopt individualized treatment approaches, considering each patient’s unique circumstances: assessing cannabis use disorder, a problematic pattern cannabis use that affects the person’s ability to function; addressing pain management needs; and treating co-occurring psychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety,” the researchers wrote.

The Yale researchers did add, however, that while cannabis use itself may not undermine medication-assisted treatment, problematic cannabis use may still pose other risks.

Reference

The impact of cannabis on non-medical opioid use among individuals receiving pharmacotherapies for opioid use disorder. News release. Yale School of Medicine. January 16, 2024. Accessed January 26, 2024.