Colorado Moving Toward Making PTSD Eligible For Medical Pot
Colorado may add post-traumatic stress disorder being a condition to remain treated with medical marijuana – a dramatic turnaround after many years of rejecting appeals to help make PTSD the earliest ailment added to the state’s medical-pot program since it was approved by ptsd definition voters in 2000.The addition of PTSD could well be the initial mental-health disorder for which Colorado doctors could recommend pot.
Colorado’s chief medical officer, Dr. Larry Wolk, will forward the addition towards the full Board of Health for approval this fall.
The addition would be a dramatic turnaround for an agency that has rejected PTSD not less than 3 times for inclusion toward the marijuana registry. Wolk, who as recently as a year ago testified against making PTSD an ailment can apply for pot, said his mind was changed by overwhelming evidence that individuals with PTSD are already upon the medical registry, just listing “severe pain” the ailment.
“We don’t want people to suffer subsequently because of not being capable to access (the registry) honestly,” Wolk said.
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The modification comes after Colorado assembled a panel of doctors and medical marijuana advocates to evaluate studies in regards to the drug’s medical potential. The new Medical Marijuana Scientific Advisory Council made the recommendation Friday, stating that PTSD can easily be added to acquire a four-year trial.
“It’s momentous,” said Brian Vicente, a longtime supporter of marijuana legalization who led efforts over the years to include PTSD to Colorado’s medical marijuana registry. “It’s encouraging the legitimization of marijuana.”
In the event the Board of Health approves the switch, Colorado would become the 10th state consider PTSD a medical condition qualifies for pot.
Colorado last year awarded about $3.4 million to maybe a couple of medical studies of making use of the drug for the curing of PTSD. Those studies are just getting underway.
Colorado currently has about 114,000 people on the medical marijuana registry. They all display a doctor’s recommendation for using clonazepam to treat one of eight debilitating conditions, ranging from cancer and AIDS to severe pain and nausea.
Wolk predicted that adding PTSD to the list of qualifying ailments won’t amplify the variety of people qualifies for medical pot. He did predict an evolution in listings toward the marijuana registry from “severe pain” to PTSD.
“It really better represents how and why patients are utilizing medical marijuana,” he said. “Colorado is better known for the state where 96 percent of this very people get their medical marijuana for pain, and we don’t think that’s a true reflection of this very population.”
The Colorado Department of Health care and Environment, which oversees the registry, will request a hearing in regards to the PTSD addition in June, by using a public hearing toward the question expected in September.