By Dan Reich

Polypharmacy – the situation that arises when someone is prescribed multiple prescription medications – has been a problem plaguing medicine since the emergence of Big Pharma. It is estimated that 36% of adults over 60 take five or more prescription medications. If you include over-the-counter remedies and supplements, the figure climbs to 67%. Many seniors have needed to be hospitalized due to adverse reactions to medications, and the more one takes at a time, the greater the chance that a problematic or even deadly reaction can occur. Much of the problem is caused by “prescribing cascades” in which side effects from one medication are addressed with another medication, such as laxatives being prescribed for constipation resulting from opioid use, or blood pressure medicine given to those who develop hypertension from taking NSAIDs such as Ibuprofen.

Sir Munir Pirmohamed, a British professor of molecular and clinical pharmacology, has suggested that pharmaceutical drugs are “poisoning” the elderly: “Those drugs are used at conventional doses and those doses have been tested in younger populations who had exclusion criteria for trials – so they have been tested in people who don’t have the multiple diseases. So when we use a drug at a dose which is licensed at the moment, we are often ‘poisoning’ the elderly because of the dosing that we are using.”

Compounding the problem is the fact that many patients are being treated by multiple practitioners, who don’t always share information and may or may not know what other medications the patient might be taking.

And it’s not just older people who are at risk…young people with conditions such as epilepsy and autism are frequently given drug after drug in the hopes that some combination will be what works, instead of trying them one at a time. It is common for physicians to prescribe a combination of antipsychotics, anti-seizure drugs, benzodiazepines, and antidepressants.

Cannabis – An effective alternative to multiple prescription medications

In recent years, research and changing attitudes have led to many practitioners using cannabis as an alternative to adding more pharmaceutical solutions. Cannabis is a very complex medicine, combining many cannabinoids and terpenes, which enables it to address a variety of symptoms, such as pain relief, insomnia, inflammation and anxiety. This versatility is key in its ability to address multiple symptoms without a drug needed to be prescribed for each.

Many studies are pointing the way towards cannabis replacing “drug cocktails” or drugs that are dangerously addictive or cause significant side effects. In an open-label study conducted in Israel, patients given medical cannabis for treatment-resistant chronic pain experienced improved pain and functional outcomes, and a 44% reduction in opioid use. And there are many stories of epileptic children taking multiple prescription drugs that are able to wean themselves off of them with cannabis and CBD oil.

The problem of polypharmacy is not going away any time soon. As our population ages, and people acquire more chronic conditions, it’s clear that another approach is needed. Cannabis appears poised to become an effective strategy in avoiding the pitfalls of polypharmacy and providing an improved quality of life.