Pubdate: Thu, 16 Jul 2015
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Webpage: Associated Press
Copyright: 2015 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388

PTSD VICTIMS MAY QUALITY FOR MEDICINAL POT

DENVER (AP) - The Colorado Board of Health is considering adding 
post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of ailments eligible for 
treatment with medical marijuana.

If approved in a vote Wednesday, Colorado would become the 10th state 
to make PTSD a qualifying condition for medical pot. In addition, it 
would be the first condition added to Colorado's registry since 
voters approved medical marijuana 15 years ago.

The board has rejected PTSD petitions twice before, citing a lack of 
research. But this year, Dr. Larry Wolk, the state's chief medical 
officer, is recommending that PTSD be added on a four-year trial 
basis, so the outcome could change.

Wolk testified last year against such a move but now says his mind 
was changed by overwhelming evidence that people with PTSD have 
already been listed on the registry after citing severe pain as their ailment.

"We don't want people to suffer as a result of not being able to 
access (the registry) honestly," Wolk said earlier this year.

Colorado allows adults over 21 to buy recreational pot, with no 
doctor's recommendation needed. But medical pot is taxed at 2.9 
percent, compared with at least 19 percent for recreational pot.

In addition, medical patients are allowed to possess twice as much 
marijuana - 2 ounces instead of 1 ounce.

Colorado had about 113,000 people on the medical marijuana registry 
in May, the most recent data available. About 6,300 were under 21.

Patients must get a doctor's recommendation for using pot to treat 
one of eight debilitating conditions, ranging from cancer and AIDS to 
severe pain and nausea. More than 93 percent of current patients list 
severe pain as their condition.

Colorado assembled a panel of doctors and medical marijuana advocates 
last year to review studies about the drug's medical potential. The 
new Medical Marijuana Scientific Advisory Council made its PTSD 
recommendation in April, saying the ailment could be added for a 
four-year trial.
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