Alarming increase in the number of prescriptions for medical marijuana and opioids in Poland and the activity of online platforms offering teleconsultations

Abstract

Despite the change in regulations, portals providing teleconsultations and issuing electronic prescriptions continue to facilitate access to addictive drugs. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of prescriptions issued for medical marijuana in Poland increased sixfold. The number of prescriptions for opioid medications is also increasing. In 2019, 1.3 million full-price prescriptions for such drugs were issued, and in 2023 there will be half a million more.

There has been an opioid epidemic in the United States for twenty years. As early as 2008, the number of opioid overdose deaths exceeded the number of car accident victims. The epidemic in North America was started by OxyContin, a potent painkiller legally approved for sale in the treatment of pain. "Prescription factories" were established, i.e. clinics specialising in pain control run by doctors who prescribed opiates en masse.

In the era of telemedicine, it is no longer necessary to create clinics, just a portal with teleconsultations issuing e-prescriptions. The aim of the paper is to present statistical data on the number of prescriptions issued for medical marijuana and opioids in Poland against the background of the activity of online platforms offering teleconsultations allowing for the insertion of e-prescriptions.

The collected data shows that we are at a critical moment in Poland. There is an urgent need to amend the legislation and introduce a standard for teleconsultation in order to more effectively limit the activities of e-prescription platforms, otherwise they may become a gateway to uncontrolled prescriptions for addictive drugs.