Why some people think medical marijuana is a key to ending the opioid epidemic

Medical marijuana advocates are responding to Gov. Eric Holcomb and other weed critics in Indiana by taking their fight to the public. 

On Friday morning, drivers heading east towards Indianapolis on I-70 may have noticed a new billboard above their heads, promoting marijuana as the solution to the opioid epidemic. 

"States with Medical Cannabis have 25% fewer opioid overdose deaths," the sign states.

Indiana NORML, a marijuana advocacy group in the state, paid for the billboard. 

The issue of medical marijuana has steadily picked up steam In Indiana the past couple of months, with prominent people and groups weighing in on both sides of the issue.

More:Did Indiana legalize cannabis? Yes. Kind of. Maybe.

More:CBD oil reduced toddler’s seizures. Still, state threatened to take away child, mother says

More:Medical marijuana bill on its way to Indiana legislature — and a Republican is behind it

Last week Gov. Holcomb, who usually says few words about legislation unless it’s on his agenda, voiced his opposition to legislation allowing marijuana for medical uses in Indiana. 

“At this time I’m trying to get drugs off the street, not add more into the mix,” Holcomb said. “I’m just not supportive of that. But I would say to those folks seeking to decriminalize or to legalize marijuana for medical uses or other uses that they need to be talking to the FDA first and foremost.”

Attorney General Curtis Hill has also been outspoken about his disapproval of marijuana legalization in op-ed columns. 

Jack Cain, vice chair for NORML, said it was time for the public to see the other side of the issue. 

During Holcomb's 2018 agenda released last week, he made fighting the opioid epidemic one of his five priorities. Cain said Holcomb is wrong not to look at marijuana as a solution to the opioid crisis.

The stat on the billboard, located on I-70 between Holt Road and Sam Jones Expressway, comes from a 2014 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. If found that found states which had legalized medical marijuana typically had lower rates of fatal opioid overdoses.

The Association of Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys, another outspoken group against marijuana legalization, said those who argue marijuana can be used as medicine are relying on "half-truths and anecdotal evidence. 

Still, the issue is gaining favor among Hoosiers.

In a 2016 WTHR - Howey Politics Indiana Poll, seven out of 10 Indiana residents said that medical marijuana should be legalized. 

Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, plans to file a bill the upcoming legislative session that would legalize medical marijuana. Democrats routinely file a medical marijuana bill. Lucas is the first Republican in at least the last five years to do so.

GOP leaders have been opposed to such efforts in the past.

Last legislative session, lawmakers also approved a bill that enabled epileptic Hoosiers to use Cannabidiol oil, a non-psychoactive extract from the cannabis plant. However, advocates of the bill made sure to emphasize the product was not medical marijuana. 

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at (317) 432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.