Medical marijuana for PTSD? 'It can break a panic attack pretty quick'
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Medical marijuana supporters in Oregon are seeking to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of conditions that qualify patients in the state to use medical marijuana.
According to advocates, many people with PTSD are already in the state program because they have other medical conditions that allow them to legally use marijuana.
But supporters want PTSD to be recognized as a standalone condition as more veterans return home and struggle to resume their lives, The Oregonian reports.
Oregon is home to an estimated 300,000 veterans. They include more than 20,000 from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, according to the Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Two earlier attempts to add PTSD to Oregon's program have failed.
Law enforcement entities in the state generally oppose expansion of the program.
Medical marijuana's potential to help sick veterans deserves serious examination, according to Jason Hansman, senior program manager for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
"We treat it like any other new treatment technique: We want to see it studied. We want to see increased research to see if it's a viable solution," said Hansman, whose group represents 145,000 veterans.
Darryl Inaba, director of clinical and behavioral health services at the Addictions Recovery Center in Medford, opposes expanding Oregon's medical marijuana program to include PTSD saying the drug "causes both physical and emotional addiction."
For some veterans, medical marijuana helps them function.
Jared Townsend, a 27-year-old Iraq War veteran, said the drug helps him sleep and "balance life out a little bit better."
Townsend, of Hillsboro, qualifies for medical marijuana because of severe pain from a ruptured disc and injured shoulder from his 2007-08 combat tour. Medical marijuana is a bigger help with his PTSD symptoms, he said.
"If I get racing thoughts and real worked up, it can break a panic attack pretty quick," Townsend said.
Seventeen states and Washington, D.C., have medical marijuana laws. Only a few, however, list PTSD as a qualifying condition.
In New Mexico, which legalized medical marijuana in 2007, the state's Department of Health said 40 percent of medical marijuana patients list PTSD as their qualifying condition, far more than any other condition.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
I don't normally advocate smoking pot, but You guys better think about lighting up...so much hostility... ;)
Well, I think that a bowl would have helped my friend out a lot on the 4th of July when he was having attacks of reliving the hell of 4 tours(Fireworks sound just like a war zone) before he was shot and sent back here to be put down by anti war jack@sses. I for one also think it would be a lot less harmful then the anti anxiety meds that doctors keep pushing him into taking to cope. Lets see, get hooked on Ativan or smoke a bowl?
What would the difference be between those who 'suffer from PTSD' (whether veterans or not)  who self-medicate with alcohol in the parks and on the street corners and those who would self-medicate with marijuana? Other than the fact that one would still be in violation of Federal law and the other one wouldn't?
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 @hewhoo Alcohol is wickedly destructive and unhealthy, marijuana is not.
@PleaseBeSmart @hewhoo What about the recent studies that suggest that adolescent use of marijuana increases the chance of a lower IQ later on?
@PleaseBeSmart @souptonuts There we have found some common ground.
 @souptonuts I'm clearly talking about adults. I don't think adolescents have any business messing with their developing brain.
Marijuana helps PTSD, but the VA refuses to get on board with it because they'd rather play politics than help soldiers. It will eventually be added to Oregon's list, hopefully sooner rather than later.
We first learned of PTSD around 1980 or so, and I am not sure what it was called before that. I would like to know if there has ever been a study linking PTSD with ADD. It seems to me that when we start to widely accept someones saying that something is occurring without questioning specific evidence that prove theories we are in trouble. I realize there are legitimate cases of mental disorders brought on by a host of different reasons, however not all people that are placed in extremely stressful situations automatically develope PTSD. There has to be something more to this. I agree with Fancy Jack they certainly shouldn't be carrying a gun around.
 @souptonuts And the earliest reports of combat-associated stress reactions was 6th century BC. Prior to being CALLED PTSD in the mid-1970s, it was referred to as shell shock, stress syndrome, battle fatigue, traumatic war neurosis, and stress syndrome. It's been around a very long time, and no one accepted anything without question.Â
@PleaseBeSmart Sounds like false logic to me.
@PleaseBeSmart Precisely.
 @Fancy Jack Funny, I don't recall lacking the ability to have a rational conversation being on the diagnostic criteria.
@PleaseBeSmart Yes, the level of aggitation you project does not allow for a rational conversation if you have PTSD, your filters would be set different, Once I was aware of what your actual fears were, I could craft my conversation in a manner so as to mitigate potential triggers.
 @Fancy Jack Is it any of your business if I have it or not? Does it have any bearing on this conversation what-so-ever?Â
@PleaseBeSmart @souptonuts How long have you had PTSD.
 @souptonuts  @PleaseBeSmart What sounds like false logic? I didn't exactly say anything requiring logic... I simply stated the history of it.
 @souptonuts Not all people who are exposed to carcinogens develop cancer. Concluding that there "has to be something more to it" because not everyone develops it is just faulty logic. And again, why do you think the government has the right to strip gun rights from someone who has an anxiety disorder? It doesn't automatically mean they're a danger to anyone.
@PleaseBeSmart @souptonuts Every human being has over 6 million dormant cancer cells in their bodies, we do not know the mechanisms that switch them on, there appears to be a natural selection component, natures way of seeing to it that we evolve with our environment, with harsh environments eliminating the weaker gene pool. PTSD means you are a danger to everyone, your wife, your children, your friends, if you have any. Soldiers are trained to solve problems with violence, to this end they are very proficient. PTSD folks are heavily armed and prepared for any threat, imaginary or real. You can ignore this warning to your own peril.
 @Fancy Jack Oh good grief. Now you're an amateur psychiatrist too? =/ Again, you don't know me. You're right about one thing... it was the weakness comment that PISSED me off. That is exactly the kind of ignorant, outdated BS the military is working so hard to combat right now.Â
@PleaseBeSmart You have shut down completely, it was the weakness comment that set you off, You do not want to be weak, that is understandable. you know the truth, I sense some self loathing relate to your own belief system.
 @Fancy Jack You're not supporting anything you're saying with facts. You're just spewing nonsense.
@PleaseBeSmart @souptonuts You are sure quick to try to start an argument. Did I say anything about the government stripping someone from their gun rights, no I did not. I am as pro gun as there is, got my first one almost 60 years ago. I just don't think that someone that has a mental problem should not be carrying a gun around. If someone is carrying a gun, I want them thinking clearly, very clearly! I am also not so quick to just accept something someone says, I have to reason it out for myself. Now if that is wrong, so be it. These are only my opinions. You are saying and adding things to what I said, and that is not right. State your own opinion and leave it at that.
 @souptonuts Yes, I'm quick to argue when I disagree. Considering I've agreed with you plenty of times, I don't think you need to try to make this personal. You said you agreed with Fancy Jack, who does seem to think they should be stripped of their gun rights. If that's not the case, then don't say it. If you don't think it wise, that's one thing... thinking people with "mental problems" shouldn't be able to have a firearm is quite another.Â
Did you know that if you have severe PTSD, the state of Oregon will give you a free hunting license and encourage you to go into the woods with other folks who are also armed? They think it is a good idea that those that lack the psychological strength to function in life should arm themselves and go into the woods with other armed citizens. If anyone demonstrates psychological weakness, especially PTSD, I believe it would be prudent to rethink encouraging them to arm themselves and pretend they can function in a normal manner. PTSD needs to be treated as any other psychological disease which would prevent someone from acquiring any weapon or having one in possession. Once you have demonstrated that you cannot control your thinking, and society as a whole has to provide for you, we should reserve the right to protect ourselves from your weakness.
 @Fancy Jack What a disgusting, ignorant comment. PTSD doesn't arise from "mental weakness," no one is 100% in control of their thinking, and having an anxiety disorder doesn't mean your gun rights should be stripped from you.Â
@PleaseBeSmart Please be informed that I am a VA Nurse (Retired) and I know full well the threat that combat trained individuals pose to others when they cannot control their thinking and have been assigned to care for many vets who posed a threat to the staff at the hospital. There are two sentinel indicators with PTSD, they cannot maintain a relationship and they cannot maintain employment, violence is an issue in each situation. Wifes report numerous assaults, some related to a heightened startle reflex and others to the inability to rationally evaluate a threatening or stressful situation. We had one patient, that any time the police wanted to talk to him, they would call his home health nurse, she would go to his home and ask for his weapon, he would give her his 44 magnum, she would call the deputies and they would come to his home and speak with him. It takes very little aggravation to set one of these guys off, one of our employees became angry at work and pulled out a knife and started stabbing every box in his office while screaming he wanted to kill the hospital director, his desk was nearest the door and the other employees were afraid to go near him so were trapped in the office, when I asked him why he had a knife at work, he told me to cut cake when they had an office party, we ended up in human resources with him looking at discipline when he went off and threaten to gut the head of the departments wife like a%$#&*$% pig. needless to say he retired that day. It would appear that yours is the disgusting and uninformed comment. There people lack the mental strength and discipline to respond to normal stressors, you do not know what their triggers are, and when you trigger them they will respond with an irrational fury that can be homicidal, the prison system is full of PTSD.Â
@PleaseBeSmart No need, she already knows
 @Fancy Jack Thanks for the diagnosis. I'll inform my doctor.
@PleaseBeSmart Classic PTSD
 @Fancy Jack Somehow you've managed to write so much and not really respond to anything I said. So, again... PTSD does not arise from mental weakness. No one is 100% in control of their thinking. You said nothing to dispute that. And finally, an anxiety disorder doesn't mean the government gets to strip your gun rights from you. How about you respond to what I actually said before going off on a tangent?Â
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And you have no idea about my experience with PTSD. I don't care if you were a nurse... the VA would disagree with you about your criteria. There is much more to it than that, and PTSD doesn't have to include not maintaining relationships and employment.