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US Government Signs Off On Study Using Marijuana In Treatment of Veterans' PTSD
Temecula, CA / Accesswire / March 18, 2014 / The federal government has recently signed off on a study aimed at using marijuana as a treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, a development that drug researchers are hailing as a major shift in U.S. drug policy.
The Department of Health and Human Services' decision surprised medical marijuana advocates who have been struggling for decades to secure federal approval for research into the drug's medical uses.
The initial proposal from the University of Arizona was long ago cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, but researchers had been unable to purchase marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The agency's Mississippi research farm is the only federally-sanctioned source of the drug.
In correspondence last week, HHS cleared the purchase of medical marijuana by the studies' chief financial backer, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which is supporting medical research and legalization of marijuana and other drugs.
"MAPS has been working for over 22 years to start marijuana drug development research, and this is the first time we've been granted permission to purchase marijuana from NIDA," the group said in a statement. The government has never before approved medical research involving smoked or vaporized marijuana, according to MAPS.
While more than a million Americans taking medical marijuana, usually for chronic pain, rigorous medical research into the drug's effects has been limited, in part due to federal restrictions.
Sisley's study will measure the effects of several different potencies of smoked or vaporized marijuana in treating symptoms of PTSD in 50 veterans.
The US Veterans Administration estimates between 11 to 20 percent of soldiers who served in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars have PTSD, which can cause anxiety, flashbacks, depression and sleep deprivation. Approximately 7.7 million American adults are estimated to have the disorder.
Physicians worldwide have long speculated that marijuana could be used to calm parts of the brain linked to overstimulation and anxiety, though little formal research has been conducted.
Times are changing
Temecula, CA / Accesswire / March 18, 2014 / The federal government has recently signed off on a study aimed at using marijuana as a treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, a development that drug researchers are hailing as a major shift in U.S. drug policy.
The Department of Health and Human Services' decision surprised medical marijuana advocates who have been struggling for decades to secure federal approval for research into the drug's medical uses.
The initial proposal from the University of Arizona was long ago cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, but researchers had been unable to purchase marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The agency's Mississippi research farm is the only federally-sanctioned source of the drug.
In correspondence last week, HHS cleared the purchase of medical marijuana by the studies' chief financial backer, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which is supporting medical research and legalization of marijuana and other drugs.
"MAPS has been working for over 22 years to start marijuana drug development research, and this is the first time we've been granted permission to purchase marijuana from NIDA," the group said in a statement. The government has never before approved medical research involving smoked or vaporized marijuana, according to MAPS.
While more than a million Americans taking medical marijuana, usually for chronic pain, rigorous medical research into the drug's effects has been limited, in part due to federal restrictions.
Sisley's study will measure the effects of several different potencies of smoked or vaporized marijuana in treating symptoms of PTSD in 50 veterans.
The US Veterans Administration estimates between 11 to 20 percent of soldiers who served in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars have PTSD, which can cause anxiety, flashbacks, depression and sleep deprivation. Approximately 7.7 million American adults are estimated to have the disorder.
Physicians worldwide have long speculated that marijuana could be used to calm parts of the brain linked to overstimulation and anxiety, though little formal research has been conducted.
Times are changing
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