Pubdate: Tue, 05 May 2015
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/5QwXAJWY
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Mitch Dudek

PANEL: NO MEDICAL POT FOR ANXIETY

A state- appointed advisory panel suggested Monday that migraines, 
irritable bowel syndrome and posttraumatic stress disorder should be 
added to conditions that may be treated by medical marijuana in Illinois.

But diabetes and anxiety did not receive the backing of the Illinois 
Medical Cannabis Advisory Board, which met in the Thompson Center. 
The panel heard from advocates and detractors before board members 
voted on whether to endorse the use of marijuana to treat each 
medical condition. A majority vote was needed to garner a 
recommendation. The state will take the recommendations into 
consideration before final rejection or approval.

The group also suggested green-lighting the use of marijuana to treat 
osteoarthritis - the most common form of arthritis - as well as 
peripheral polyneuropathy and diabetic neuropathy, which are forms of 
nerve damage. The eating disorder anorexia nervosa also was 
recommended for approval. But essential thrombocythemia, a blood 
disorder, did not receive their backing.

"We evaluated each symptom on the merits," said Jim Champion, a board 
member and military veteran.

"If a condition didn't get approved it was because either we couldn't 
find the medical rationale or the scientific evidence to justify it," 
said Leslie Mendoza Temple, a physician and chair of the advisory 
board. "Or the condition was too broad - such as anxiety. There are 
many different kinds of anxiety. Everyone can have anxiety because 
it's an emotional state. We needed more specificity."

There are currently about 40 medical conditions that allow for the 
use of medical marijuana in Illinois.

Patients are still waiting because of delays in the state licensing 
process for growers and dispensers.

Other conditions that received backing Monday include: chronic post- 
operative pain; Ehlers- Danlos Syndrome; Neuro- Behcet's autoimmune 
disease; polycystic kidney disease; and superior canal dehiscence syndrome.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom