Pubdate: Tue, 18 Mar 2014
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Matthew Perrone, Associated Press

GOVERNMENT EYES MARIJUANA AS POSSIBLE TREATMENT FOR PTSD

(AP) - The federal government has signed off on a long-delayed study 
looking at 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. policy.

The Department of Health and Human Services' decision surprised 
marijuana advocates who have struggled for decades to secure federal 
approval for research into the drug's medical uses.

The 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 a letter last week, HHS cleared the purchase of medical marijuana 
by the studies' chief financial backer, the Multidisciplinary 
Association for Psychedelic Studies, which supports 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 Boston-based group 
said in a statement. The federal government has never before approved 
medical research involving smoked or vaporized marijuana, according to MAPS.

A spokesman for the group said organizers have called off a protest 
over the stalled study that was planned for later this year.

While more than 1 million Americans currently take medical marijuana 
- - usually for chronic pain - rigorous medical research into the 
drug's effects has been limited, in part due to federal restrictions.

Marijuana remains a Schedule I substance under the federal 
government's Controlled Substance Act. That means the drug is 
considered a high-risk for abuse with no accepted medical applications.

In the past, NIDA has focused its research on the risks of drug abuse 
and addiction, turning away researchers interested in studying the 
potential benefits of illegal substances.

Even with the latest green light from the Health and Human Services 
Department, MAPS and University of Arizona Professor Suzanne Sisley 
still need approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration, though 
they expect that clearance to come more quickly.

Ms. Sisley's study will measure the effects of five different 
potencies of smoked or vaporized marijuana in treating symptoms of 
PTSD in 50 veterans.

The Veterans Administration estimates between 11 and 20 percent of 
soldiers who served in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars have 
PTSD, which can cause anxiety, flashbacks, depression and sleep 
deprivation. About 7.7 million American adults are estimated to have 
the disorder.

Physicians 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.

The American Medical Association has called for a change in 
marijuana's classification to make it easier for research to be 
conducted. The current classification prevents physicians from even 
prescribing it in states where medical use is permitted. Instead, 
they can only recommend it to patients who can then buy it through a 
state-government-approved dispensary.

Parents of children with epilepsy have petitioned lawmakers in 
several states to grant access to a strain of medical marijuana known 
as "Charlotte's Web," which contains low amounts of the drug's active 
ingredient, THC. Available in liquid form in Colorado, the strain is 
believed to be effective in controlling seizures in children, though 
the Institute of Medicine and the American Medical Association have 
said more research needs to be done.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom