HEALTHY DEBATE: Some doctors, such as Dr. Uma Dhanabalan of Uplifting Health and Wellness in Natick see medical marijuana as a way to help opioid addicts kick their habit. But others, such as Dr. Anil Kumar of Advanced Pain Management Center are wary to downright skeptical of the theory.

Hundreds of opioid addicts are being treated with medical marijuana in Massachusetts, with advocates touting the new therapy as a life-changing alternative to a deadly epidemic — and facing down critics who contend they are peddling junk science.

“We have a statewide epidemic of opioid deaths,” said Dr. Gary Witman of Canna Care Docs, a network of facilities that issue medicinal marijuana cards in seven states, including nine clinics in Massachusetts. “As soon as we can get people off opioids to a nonaddicting substance — and medicinal marijuana is nonaddicting — I think it would dramatically impact the amount of opioid deaths.”  Witman, who works out of a Fall River Canna Care clinic, says he has treated about 80 patients who were addicted to opioids,  read more