New research suggests that in states where medical marijuana is legalized and legislated, the number of prescription overdose deaths is 25 percent lower than in states where it is still illegal to use marijuana.

The study, which was conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, involved analyzing death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The researchers discovered that the rate of prescription drug overdose deaths increased from 1999 to 2010, yet the rate was 25 percent lower in states with legislated medical marijuana laws.

Deaths from drug overdose have been increasing over the past two decades, and are the leading cause of injury death in the U.S. Each day, 113 people die from a drug overdose in the U.S., with another 6,748 having to be treated in the emergency room for abuse of drugs.

Senior study author Colleen L. Barry, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School, recognizes the potential unintended benefits of legalized medical marijuana.

“Prescription drug abuse and deaths due to overdose have emerged as national public health crises. As our awareness of the addiction and overdose risks associated with use of opioid painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin grows, individuals with chronic pain and their medical providers may be opting to treat pain entirely or in part with medical marijuana, in states where this is legal,” said Barry in a statement.

The findings of the study are published in JAMA Internal Medicine.