A new research suggests that states that have allowed the legalization of marijuana for medical use have lower rates of prescription painkiller overdose deaths than states that have not, according to the Huffington Post.

In a study published Monday in an issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that although overdose deaths from opioid painkillers have increased in the U.S. over the course of the last decade, they were 25% lower in states that implemented medical marijuana laws than other states.

"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," stated Collen L. Barry, senior author of the study and associate professor in the health policy and management department at the Bloomberg School.

The study reportedly reveals that states with legal medical marijuana had a 24.8 percent lower annual average painkiller overdose death rate than states without those laws.

Results of the study also reportedly show that in the years following the legalization of marijuana, the association was stronger over time. In the first year of legalization, painkiller overdose deaths were nearly 20% lower in states with the laws than without, and nearly 34% lower five years later, on average.

Despite the results of the study, some experts caution against drawing immediate conclusions, according to the website Philly.com.

"I don't know what to make of the paper. I'd be very, very careful saying that medical marijuana laws decrease risk of opiate [narcotic] overdose. It's a very loose association," stated Dr. Bradley Flansbaum, a hospitalist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.