It is no secret by now that marijuana is becoming one of the most popular medications in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, this savage condition, which most commonly rattles the psyche of war veterans and victims of sexual abuse, still goes mostly untreated through natural means since the federal government and most states still consider pot to be a blight to the portrait of civil society.
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Related Story: What Marijuana Can Do For Veterans With PTSD
Fortunately, there are somewhere around 20 states and a couple of other U.S. jurisdictions that allow patients suffering from this severe anxiety disorder to use medical marijuana to help ease the symptoms. But regardless of the reports that have surfaced over the past several years showing PTSD sufferers are finding some reprieve from their illness due to the use of marijuana, some states, including Colorado, have all but refused to recognize this dastardly disorder as a legitimate health issue.
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But the condition is finally gaining some credibility. Over the past year, a number of additional states, including Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, have worked their magic, either in the state legislature or through the voter initiative process, to see that veterans and others with PTSD have access to cannabis medicine. Still, in some places, where marijuana is completely legal, patients with this condition are unable to get their hands on the herb without being forced to pay the ridiculously high taxes connected to buying cannabis products from the recreational sector.
In Colorado, there has been a push for the past several years to get PTSD added to the state’s list of qualified conditions, but, despite the recommendations coming from the healthcare community, the Colorado Board of Health has turned its back on the concept of incorporating the condition into the medical marijuana program. It is for this reason that State Senator Irene Aguilar recently introduced a proposal (Senate Bill 17) that would bypass the Board’s sandbag tactics and make PTSD a legitimate health condition by way of legislative force. The proposal was recently approved by a Senate committee in a vote of 5-to-0 and is now on its way to the full Senate for consideration.
If all goes well, it distinctly possible that Colorado could finally join the list of medical marijuana states to recognize PTSD.
Below is a list of states that allow medical marijuana for PTSD. Some of these areas list the condition under the language of the law, while others simply give physicians the right to exercise their own discretion when making recommendations for the herb.
Arizona: Qualified condition
Arkansas: Qualified condition
California: Up to the doctor
Connecticut: Qualified condition
Delaware: Qualified condition
Florida: Up to the doctor
Hawaii: Qualified condition
Illinois: Up to the doctor
Maine: Qualified condition
Maryland: Qualified condition
Massachusetts: Up to the doctor
Michigan: Qualified condition
Minnesota: Qualified condition
Montana: Qualified condition
Nevada: Qualified condition
New Jersey: Qualified condition
New Mexico: Qualified condition
North Dakota: Qualified condition
Ohio: Qualified condition
Oregon: Qualified condition
Pennsylvania: Qualified condition
Rhode Island: Qualified condition
District of Columbia: Up to the doctor
Puerto Rico: Up to the doctor
Guam: Qualified condition
