Pubdate: Wed, 11 Sep 2013
Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
Column: Higher Ground
Copyright: 2013 C.E.G.W./Times-Shamrock
Contact:  http://www.metrotimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1381
Author: Larry Gabriel

MICHIGAN MARIHUANA REVIEW PANEL WEIGHS TESTIMONY ON PTSD INCLUSION

It's about time.

Patient activist Melody Karr, testifying in front of the MMRP about 
her experiences after having seen her first husband commit suicide 
and her second husband dying when she was only 32.

By

Published: September 11, 2013

Last week, the Michigan Marihuana Review Panel, which makes 
recommendations on qualifying conditions to the Michigan Department 
of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, heard public testimony on a 
petition to add Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome to the list of 
qualifying conditions. If the panel recommends the condition and LARA 
Director Steve Arwood concurs, it would be the first condition added 
under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, and the first qualifying 
psychological condition in Michigan.

A previous panel actually heard testimony once and voted in favor of 
adding PTSD in March. However, that panel was disbanded due to a 
technicality on how it was formed. The new panel needed to hear new 
testimony in order to decide on the PTSD petition. About 20 people, 
mostly women, spoke at the most recent hearing.

Melody Karr, a medical marijuana activist and patient in northwest 
Michigan, spoke about her experiences after having seen her first 
husband kill himself with a gunshot to his head and having her second 
husband die when she was 32.

"Cannabis has been a godsend for me," Karr told me during a phone 
call after her testimony. "I once had a doctor tell me that a lot of 
his colleagues seemed to feel that cannabis was not a good treatment 
for PTSD because of the short attention span associated with it. They 
thought that talk therapy was best and cannabis could make you 
forgetful. I have talked about my problems, written about them and 
seen a therapist. It's not that I can't talk about it. The problem is 
that I can't stop. In the simplest possible terms, I can smoke a 
joint and forget to be all messed up. I can smoke a joint and start 
thinking about other things. I can smoke and think about the things 
that happened and have some perspective without the negative self-talk."

Charmie Gholson, an Ann Arbor activist, described her experience of 
having been beaten, raped and left for dead. She discussed how PTSD 
causes her to have flashbacks and nightmares that make her relive 
those traumatic experiences, as well as guilt, shame, hopelessness, 
difficulty maintaining close relationships, being easily startled and 
hypervigilance.

"It is a constant, never-ending battle to escape the torture that has 
chased me for some 40 years," Gholson testified. "Not even sleep 
offers a reprieve, because you better not go to sleep. You better not. ..

"Cannabis isn't the only treatment I use for this debilitating 
disorder, but I know for a fact that is the most effective and safe 
treatment available to me. Using cannabis gives me a bit of 
stretched-out time, room to make a decision regarding my actions, 
rather than succumb to a trigger. ... To put it simply, cannabis 
allows me to choose my course of action, rather than live in that 
reactionary chaos of madness and terror."

When the first panel heard testimony, most of it came from veterans 
who had experienced trauma in combat. That's partly because John 
Evans, an Ann Arbor-area activist who brought the petition that led 
to these hearings, is a Navy veteran. Most public awareness about 
PTSD has been around military experiences.

"I just know that too many young veterans aren't getting the help 
they need," says Evans, who wasn't present for last week's hearing. 
"I use medical marijuana for chronic pain and one of the side effects 
is I stopped dreaming. I don't have dreams. Veterans, you take away 
their nightmares and they can sleep. They can process things and deal 
with issues.

"I've come to find out that it is more prevalent and common than I 
realized. More people are able to talk about it more freely," Evans 
continues. "When you look at the assaults on women and any particular 
lifestyle or career, hospice care, emergency response, police, fire, 
anyone who's been through a natural disaster and lost their home, 
survivor's guilt, all of these can be triggers for post-traumatic 
stress. It is centralized in veterans who get the most press and 
acknowledgment, but it's much more common."

That there were a lot of women testifying is evidence of the recent 
trend where women are now stepping to the forefront in marijuana 
activism. Lawyer Alison Holcomb led the legalization effort in 
Washington state last year. Cheryl Schuman, winner of Most 
Outstanding Activist of the Year Award at the 2013 Seattle Hempfest, 
is taking a visible role in the current campaign for the Ohio 
Cannabis Rights Amendment.

A group of "Pot Moms," who said cannabis made them better mothers, 
were central in Piers Morgan's CNN special Gone to Pot a few weeks 
ago. In Michigan, Brandy Zink is chair of Michigan for Safe Access, a 
medical marijuana patient advocacy organization. Gholson is founder 
of Michigan Moms United, which helps protect families and children 
affected by the War on Drugs. She echoed the statements by the women 
on CNN during her testimony last week.

"Using cannabis for my PTSD allows me to be present with my children, 
eases my hopelessness and allows me to be compassionate with myself 
to alleviate some of the guilt and shame I internalized," Gholson said.

The 11-member panel, seven of whom are members of the state's Pain 
and Symptom Management Advisory Board, will decide whether or not to 
recommend adding PTSD to LARA within the next couple of months. 
Arwood will then decide whether to add the condition or not. The only 
nonmedical professional on the board is Dave Brogren, president of 
Michigan's Cannabis Patients United, a nonprofit dedicated to 
maintaining the core principles of the MMMA.

"It wasn't polished as much as it was powerful," says Brogren of the 
testimonies. "I sit through these things and hear people bare their 
souls and it's very difficult as they try to talk about things they'd 
rather not talk about."

Brogren says he's "cautiously optimistic" about the chance of the 
panel recommending PTSD. The previous panel voted in favor of it 
before it was disbanded for procedural reasons. State Medical 
Examiner Matthew Davis, a panel member, voted yes in a preliminary 
Aug. 6 count. As it stands now, if all panelists vote the way they 
did then the recommendation will go on to Arwood. There wasn't much 
at last week's meeting to turn someone against the petition if they 
already support it.

It seems that Arwood should take the recommendation of the panel. If 
not, it would be a purely political decision. In other states, such 
as Maine and Oregon, PTSD is a qualifying condition.

The MMMA was passed by voters nearly five years ago, and it called 
for this panel to convene within 90 days of it going into effect. The 
state dragged its feet on establishing and convening the panel; it 
didn't meet until last fall and then, after it recommended adding 
PTSD, there was bureaucratic reason to not accept the recommendation.

It seems the state has not been approaching the issue with due 
dispatch and, some might say its intent is malevolent.

It's about time state regulators start running the Michigan Medical 
Marihuna Program like they meant it. Voters meant it when they voted 
for it, and they're still paying attention.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom