Opioids and Marijuana Discussed @ Upcoming WCRI Conference
The sessions will run consecutively – two interesting topics for Work Comp
Opioids and marijuana will be two of many great topics. WCRI is hosting their annual conference on March 2 -3, 2017. I have attended the last five meetings and will be at this one in Boston. My main challenge in attending will be the high likelihood of Patriot fans. <<<kidding
According to a recent WCRI press release, a session on opioids will be followed by a session on marijuana as it relates to Workers Comp, specifically the control of opioid abuse, and the use of marijuana as it affects the workplace. As you may know, many states have legalized the recreational use of medical marijuana while a few have even legalized its recreational use – Think Colorado.
According to WCRI –
The latest opioid prescribing trends, first-hand accounts of how states are combating the opioid epidemic, and alternatives to opioids will be discussed during two exciting sessions at the Workers Compensation Research Institute’s (WCRI) 33rd Annual Issues & Research Conference, March 2-3, 2017, at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston, MA.
WCRI’s CEO John Ruser, whom I met last year at the conference made a very poignant point:
The dangers of prescription drug misuse resulting in death and addiction constitute a top public health problem in the United States and the workers’ compensation community,”
The first session discusses WCRI’s latest research on:
- Interstate variations and trends in the use of opioids for workplace injuries across 25 states
- Features senior policymakers from two states, Massachusetts and Kentucky, who will share initiatives taken by their states to combat the opioid epidemic
The second session will discuss two emerging alternatives to opioids:
- Marijuana
- Evidence-based non-pharmacological treatments – meditation?
- First hand accounts from senior policymakers in Maine and Colorado on what it is like to manage a program treating injured workers with marijuana, which is very new and federally illegal.
The WCRI conference is a leading workers’ compensation forum for policymakers, employers, labor advocates, insurance executives, health care organizations, claims managers, researchers, and others. It is a great two-day program. If you have anything to do with WC data or want to explore a very different and fresh slant on some of the rating bureau data, you may want to consider attending the conference.
For our readers, I will post some of the discussions, but there is so much good data and presentations, I may not do the conference justice. See you in Boston.
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