Pubdate: Fri, 21 Aug 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Carlos Illescas

COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST THE STATE

The Board of Health barred PTSD from being eligible for medical pot in July.

Several people on Wednesday filed a complaint in Denver District 
Court against the Colorado Board of Health's decision in July not to 
add post-traumatic stress disorder to medical conditions that can be 
treated under the state's medical marijuana program.

The complaint lists Curtis Bean, Larisa Bolivar, Stephen Otero, 
Matthew Kahl and Zach Phillips as plaintiffs in the case. They are 
asking that a judge overturn the board's ruling. Several are military 
veterans, and one is a survivor of sexual and physical abuse.

In the complaint, attorneys argue that the plaintiffs' access to 
appropriate medicinal strains of marijuana has been "severely 
impeded" by the board's refusal to recognize PTSD as an appropriate 
condition for the medical marijuana recommendations.

In July, the Colorado Board of Health said there wasn't evidence 
supporting claims that pot is a viable treatment for PTSD. The vote 
came after the state's chief medical officer Dr. Larry Wolk, director 
of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 
recommended it for the medical condition.

Wolk had proposed several state studies on the issue and that the 
board could revisit medical marijuana for PTSD treatment in four 
years, but the board balked at that proposal.

The CDPHE and board have 21 days to file their answer, according to 
attorneys for the plaintiffs, so there is no hearing on the complaint set.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom