Fentanyl has been in the news lately for one reason: it is bad. The extremely strong and highly addictive painkiller is the cause of many recent overdoses, including that of pop star Prince.
Marijuana has been in the news lately for one reason: it is good. As states begin to realize the innocuousness of adult usage and the myriad therapeutic benefits, they’ve moved to make it legal.
One might think that a company that makes a drug that kills someone would, when informed that a different drug that doesn’t kill people could be made available, would shrug and say, “That’s cool. We can still make ours available to patients really in need, but let other people enjoy this much, much, much safer alternative.”
Nahhh.
The makers of a Fentanyl spray, Inysis Therapeutics, donated $500,000 to a group trying to defeat legal marijuana in Arizona, according to US News.
The news comes from state filings that show they gave the money to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy.
Marijuana advocates have long speculated pharmaceutical companies have fought legalization behind the scenes because of the concern it might eat into profits.
This makes it pretty damn clear.
A study out of Johns Hopkins found that states that allowed medical marijuana had significantly lower opioid overdoses.
Which is a good thing.
The company did not return a request for comment.
[Via US News]