Kaya Holdings, operators of Oregon cannabis retailers Kaya Shack, is planning to launch an opioid-for-medical cannabis swap program – if they can get approval from state compliance officials and local law enforcement.
The Kaya Cares program would see people interested in trying medical cannabis exchange their prescription opioids for cannabis products at no charge.
David Jones, Kaya senior advisor, pointed out that there are 91 opioid-related deaths per day in the U.S., which not only devastates families but “disrupts our economy with reduced productivity and increased healthcare costs.”
“We believe a program like Kaya Cares and other initiatives to be undertaken by [Kaya] will help transition people away from dangerous opioids, making the government’s war on opioids a little more successful,” he said in a press release announcing the program.
Kaya CEO Craig Frank said the company came up with the idea when President Donald Trump announced “the war on the opioid epidemic.”
“We want to help people in the communities we serve, as well as demonstrate that cannabis companies can be part of the President’s solution to the crisis,” he said in a statement.
President Trump’s opioid commission – headed up by cannabis prohibitionist Gov. Chris Christie – released their interim report in March which does not mention using cannabis as an exit drug despite private and government research.