Editor's Note: It's a case of one step forward, two steps back, but hopefully the step forward will be big enough to lead to actual progress. The step forward is the recent news that the first "whole-plant marijuana study" and first "federally approved study in which the subjects will be able to ingest the marijuana by smoking it, meaning the marijuana will not simply be an extract of the cannabis in a manufactured delivery system, such as a pill" is finally getting underway. In April, "the National Institute of Drug Abuse ... informed the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies that it is ready to supply researchers with marijuana needed for the study, Brad Burge, spokesman for MAPS, told Military.com."
Colorado declines to become 10th state to to include condition in medical marijuana program
The Colorado Board of Health voted 6-2 — amid shouts, hisses and boos from a packed house — not to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the medical conditions that can be treated under the state's medical marijuana program.
The board voted Wednesday against the recommendation of the state's chief medical officer.
A dozen of the veterans who testified said cannabis has saved their lives. Many said drugs legally prescribed to them for PTSD at veterans clinics or by other doctors — antidepressants, antipsychotics, opioids and others — nearly killed them or robbed them of quality of life.
"It is our brothers and sisters who are committing suicide every day. We know cannabis can help. We're not going to go away," said John Evans, director of Veterans 4 Freedoms.
"We've legalized it," Evans said. "We'll take the tax dollars from our tourists (for recreational marijuana) before we'll help our vets."
