Treatment center using medical marijuana to treat opioid addicts

WASHINGTON - As President Donald Trump declares the nation's opioid epidemic a national emergency, there are still many questions about how to tackle the problem in a meaningful and long-lasting manner.

One advocate for treating addiction, Joe Schrank, believes the answer lies in legalized medicinal marijuana. Schrank has detailed efforts to use cannabis as a conduit to wean addicts from using of harmful opioids as part of High Sobriety, a California-based treatment program.

Schrank cites research that shows only a quarter of those participating in so-called "abstinence-based" treatment programs do not relapse, and decries the concept of a one-sized-fits-all approach to recovery.

Schrank joined Jim Lokay on The Final 5 to discuss alternatives to traditional addiction treatment and how the government has failed so far in its approach to the drug epidemic.