cannabisnews.com: States Differ on Marijuana for PTSD

cannabisnews.com: States Differ on Marijuana for PTSD
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States Differ on Marijuana for PTSD
Posted by CN Staff on March 24, 2010 at 14:56:53 PT
By Dan Frosch
Source: New York Times
Denver, CO -- A decade ago, Colorado became one of the earliest states to legalize medical marijuana. Its neighbor New Mexico did so more recently. But that does not mean the two Western states agree on all the medicinal merits of cannabis.Both states allow marijuana to be used to treat the symptoms of a variety of diseases, like AIDS and cancer. When it comes to treating post-traumatic stress disorder, however, New Mexico says yes to medical marijuana, while Colorado’s answer is a resounding no.
Those differences were highlighted this week in the Colorado legislature, when a State House committee on Monday narrowly defeated a proposal that would have directed the Department of Public Health and Environment to consider whether marijuana should be used to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder.Dr. Ned Calonge, the chief medical officer for the health department, which was against the proposal, said psychiatry departments at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Denver and the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver agreed that marijuana should not be recommended for treating the disorder.“There is no evidence of efficacy of marijuana for treatment of PTSD in the medical literature,” Dr. Calonge said Tuesday in an interview. “In fact, the published literature suggests that such use leads to addiction and abuse of other substances.”At the same time, he said, some clinical evidence supports the drug’s effectiveness in treating those conditions for which medical marijuana is already approved in Colorado. “I think we’ve set the bar pretty low,” he added.But supporters of the Colorado proposal cited New Mexico as an example to follow. In that state, the Health Department came to a drastically different conclusion. In January 2009, a medical advisory committee recommended that post-traumatic stress disorder was an eligible condition for medical marijuana treatment.In its report, the committee acknowledged that were no specific clinical trial data regarding the use of marijuana in treating the disorder. But the committee noted that when smoked, marijuana could help relieve anxiety associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, and cited a number of psychiatric and pharmacological studies.The secretary of the New Mexico Department of Health, Dr. Alfredo Vigil, signed off on the recommendation a month later.“There are hints and some indications in the medical literature that there are components of cannabis that might be helpful to some people with PTSD,” Dr. Vigil said Tuesday in an interview, adding, “All of these states are going out on a limb, trying to determine from a medical, clinical point of view, what seems reasonable.”Currently, more than a quarter of the 1,376 patients approved for medical marijuana in New Mexico have PTSD, more than any other condition including cancer, according to the Health Department. It is unclear how many are veterans.To qualify, a patient needs a referral from a primary care doctor or a psychiatrist along with documents from the psychiatrist certifying that the patient has the disorder.The debate over PTSD came as Colorado’s legislature grapples with how to regulate the dispensation of medical marijuana throughout the state. Since the federal Justice Department announced in the fall that it would not prosecute people who use marijuana for medical purposes in states where it is legal, shops have sprung up all over Denver selling medical marijuana, ostensibly to only those who have a doctor’s prescription.“If there is any legitimate use for any medicine to treat PTSD, we have an obligation to consider it,” said State Representative Sal Pace, a Democrat from Pueblo, who introduced Colorado’s proposal.Steve Fox, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates for the legal regulation of the drug, said he was disappointed in the Colorado vote, particularly given New Mexico’s policy. He noted that many antidepressants prescribed to veterans with PTSD have a range of potentially serious side affects, whereas medical marijuana is comparatively benign.Mr. Pace said he hoped that the Health Department or the legislature would reconsider using marijuana to treat PTSD symptoms.“I’m not a doctor. I’m not a psychiatrist. I can’t judge myself whether this is legitimate medicine,” Mr. Pace said. “But if we can’t even open the door to that discussion, then we are potentially prohibiting medicine to a needy class of citizens.”Source: New York Times (NY)Author: Dan FroschPublished: March 25, 2010Copyright: 2010 The New York Times CompanyContact: letters nytimes.comWebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/rpoi3A6pCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on March 25, 2010 at 18:43:14 PT
herbdoc215
The wind is at our backs now. All good things come in time. The time for us has come.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #16 posted by herbdoc215 on March 25, 2010 at 18:22:25 PT
FoM, Wow that is amazing! thanks...
It looks like we might make it, for so long I thought I wasn't going to live long enough to be free in my own country before I died...like looking from the mountain kind of thing but it looks as if real change is coming...it's thrilling and scary at the same time as I just know something is going to either mess this up or a satellite will hit me or some other nonsense before then :) What is amazing me most is the speed at which the truth is overtaking the lies...I never thought this was possible? peace, steve
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #15 posted by FoM on March 25, 2010 at 15:27:47 PT
herbdoc215
Look what is on Veterans Today.URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/03/25/measure-to-legalize-marijuana-will-be-on-californias-november-ballot/
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #14 posted by FoM on March 25, 2010 at 12:26:22 PT
Hope
I don't think I've ever gone to an active forum type prohibitionist site. Are they still as bad as when Bush was in charge? I don't think we have as much to fear with Obama. People that really run ahead of the law will always be at risk no matter who is President though.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #13 posted by Hope on March 25, 2010 at 12:03:17 PT
I remember that.
And anyone that posts here needs to keep that in mind."So many are speaking out now but I still remember sitting in federal court and having words said here used against me as evidence."World wide prohibitionist sites, I've noticed, have mentioned Cannabis News... scathingly. Prohibitionists and law enforcement read here as religiously as any reformer, trying to catch us doing something "Illegal" and they mock us. They're looking for any evidence they can hold against any of us in their drug war pogrom. I'm sorry about your hip pain. If anyone knows it likely will pass... someday... it's you. You've had way too much experience with it.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #12 posted by herbdoc215 on March 25, 2010 at 11:26:58 PT
Hope, Noted and thanks for help!
Thanks :)
And after all the time I have spent learning to build computers and web pages you would think I could deal with slash-code but I keep forgetting all the old basics...
Sometimes it amazes me we have been at this as long as we have and I wonder how many whom are jumping in now have any idea how long so many here wondered in the dark with only each other to tell us we were not insane!?! So many are speaking out now but I still remember sitting in federal court and having words said here used against me as evidence, which opened the door to being able to use the totality of my words here and stories about me here to clear me name! FoM has made this place into the "cannaWikipedia" of truth! peace, steve
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on March 25, 2010 at 10:49:15 PT
HTML
Ok!I need spaces or something because of my eyes, or brain, or both.As I was doing that... I suspected something like that was happening when I realized your name wasn't even spaced away from the rest.You are well spoken, well traveled, and quite literate, Steve. Being from the South, myself, I might more easily recognize what a "Leg socket" is than some people from other areas might. Lol!
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #10 posted by Hope on March 25, 2010 at 10:44:27 PT
Suggestions
This guy is supposed to be an MD and not just any but the head of the state Health dept and doesn't even know that Methamphetamine is a schedule 2 drug called Desoxsyn and sold in pure form from Rite-Aid? If the medical knowledge at the Colorado State Health Dept. about drugs isn't any better than this then they should look to hiring out of state MD's to explain things or better yet could go the Hawaiian method and just get some LAPD cops to come and give them their stories of knowledge gained from High school and a lifetime of racism? How can so many PTSD sufferers such as myself whom this medicine has saved be wrote (Suggestion: written) off as nuts when lone MD's get to always quote unreflected ignorance in papers? It is long past time to remove cannabis from schedule 1 and much more focus needs to be placed upon that instead of cutesy laws that nobody can force the gestapo to go along with? If a man can die for our country, he should also have the rights to heal himself as best he can until that interferes with the rights of others! peace, Steve Tuck President VetsCann
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Comment #9 posted by herbdoc215 on March 25, 2010 at 10:25:40 PT
I see now it's not how I write it but what
the HTML code does to format when I post here is the problem as it's not keeping paragraphs due to HTML code issues that I will try and find a way to do as i haven't ever thought about it before? sorry, steve
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #8 posted by herbdoc215 on March 25, 2010 at 10:22:54 PT
Hope, did it and sent to Denver Newspaper
Let's see if they will print it, I will try and send a copy to a few other papers today? Is this any better and if anybody can make it sound better by all means be my guest as the info what counts!
In another story this week about this same subject "Dr." Colgone said, "In any other setting, diagnosing a debilitating condition and making a recommendation for a therapy with a Schedule I drug -- marijuana is in the same federal classification with heroin, methamphetamine and other things that have no medical use -- requires more than a two-minute consultation,"... according Dr. Ned Calonge, chief medical officer at the Colorado State Department of Public Health and Environment.
This guy is supposed to be an MD and not just any but the head of the state Health dept and doesn't even know that Methamphetamine is a schedule 2 drug called Desoxsyn and sold in pure form from Rite-Aid?
If the medical knowledge at the Colorado State Health Dept. about drugs isn't any better than this then they should look to hiring out of state MD's to explain things or better yet could go the Hawaiian method and just get some LAPD cops to come and give them their stories of knowledge gained from High school and a lifetime of racism?
How can so many PTSD sufferers such as myself whom this medicine has saved be wrote off as nuts when lone MD's get to always quote unreflected ignorance in papers? It is long past time to remove cannabis from schedule 1 and much more focus needs to be placed upon that instead of cutesy laws that nobody can force the gestapo to go along with? If a man can die for our country, he should also have the rights to heal himself as best he can until that interferes with the rights of others!
peace, Steve Tuck
President VetsCann
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #7 posted by herbdoc215 on March 25, 2010 at 09:48:37 PT
Hope, I tried to send a simular version
to one paper already but it was bounced because I don't live in Colorado, I will try and edit it into something that makes sense and try again today and see what happens but my leg socket has been hurting mightily lately as it is almost new hip time for me I am afraid and it makes my typing/prose a bit erratic, but this too shall pass :) As for grammar and all that I will take all the help I can get as I know the science forwards and backwards, but as you all know after many years of trying to make sense of my terrible hillbilly-speak that English wasn't my major or even my friend :) peace, Steve tuck
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #6 posted by Hope on March 25, 2010 at 09:34:14 PT
herbdoc215 Comment 1
If what you point out is true, and I know it is, "Dr" Calonge should be fired from his job. Immediately. Can he be trusted to practice respectable good government? Obviously, he can't.Herbdoc215, please send your comment as a letter to the editor. Please. People with PTSD and veterans need you to. I need you to. Except make paragraphs... or I will make them for you, if you wish. It's hard to read without them and the truth should, though very hard hitting and true, be easy to read.Thank you.
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Comment #5 posted by ezrydn on March 25, 2010 at 05:41:49 PT
Medical Documentation
No documentation. PLEEEZE! The government has done all they can to make sure there is NO documentation. And, with that said, one has to turn to anecdotal information from sufferers who regularly use that which they know nothing about.Leads to stronger drugs. Oh, horseshit! Cannabis, itself, doesn't lead to anything. We all know it's the seller that offers "additional" products, some being stronger. I doubt that would happen at a pharmacy or state store.If you're going to listen to the VA, shorten the trip and listen to the ONDCP. They're one in the same on this count.Coloradians need to do some legislative house cleaning during their next couple of voting cycles.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 25, 2010 at 04:49:42 PT
herbdoc215
I know what you are saying. I just had to comment on how I feel about Meth.
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Comment #3 posted by herbdoc215 on March 24, 2010 at 23:12:50 PT
FoM, I agree speed is nasty stuff
But my point was here is a man assuming he knows all there is to know about drugs and he can't even get his facts straight? Meth is schedule 2 and cannabis is schedule 1 is the craziest thing this country has EVER produced and the FDA is such a tool that nobody has to be told that anymore now either! Nobody in USA has to be told about what meth does as it has touched almost every life in here badly in some way and those are the folks DEA should be chasing not us!
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 24, 2010 at 19:17:04 PT
herbdoc215
I think that Meth is Schedule II because it will make a person work alot. Some in our country believe that is how we determine our worth. Just a thought. Problem is a person on Meth will work hard for a little while but then they will burn out. An old expression from the 70s was you never see an old speed freak. They either quit or they die.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by herbdoc215 on March 24, 2010 at 18:53:14 PT
In another story about this subject "Dr." Cal
Did not even know that Methamphetamine is a schedule 2 drug...my point is that the Head of a State health dept whom acts like he knows everything about drugs ought not to know less than I do about them...but he does and it seems quite a few myths represent his training. these following comments were to some friends about that story but fit this one to a T.
There is so many inconsistencies in this story it would take me all day to point them all out but e.g.,
"Dr" Calonge is quoted as saying, "In any other setting, diagnosing a debilitating condition and making a recommendation for a therapy with a Schedule I drug -- marijuana is in the same federal classification with heroin, methamphetamine and other things that have no medical use -- requires more than a two-minute consultation," Calonge said... according Dr. Ned Calonge, chief medical officer at the Colorado State Department of Public Health and Environment."
This guy is supposed to be an MD and not just any but the head of the state Health dept and doesn't even know that Meth is a schedule 2 drug called Desoxsyn and sold in pure form from Rite-Aid? If the medical knowledge there about drugs isn't any better than this and they should look to hiring out of state MD's to explain things or better yet could go the Hawaiian method and just get some LAPD cops to come and give them their stories of knowledge gained from High School and a lifetime of racism? How can so many PTSD sufferers such as myself whom this medicine has saved be written off as nuts or 'misguided' when lone dumb ass MD's get to always quote unreflected ignorance in papers? It is long past time to remove cannabis from schedule 1 and much more focus needs to be placed upon that instead of cutesy laws that nobody can force the gestapo to go along with? If a man can die for our country, he should also have the rights to heal himself as best he can until that interferes with the rights of others!
peace, Steve Tuck
[ Post Comment ]

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