Pubdate: Wed, 08 Apr 2015
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2015 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Bryce Crawford

COLORADO TO CONSIDER PTSD, KARA'SMOKEY' CLUB OPENS AND MORE

Another chance for PTSD

On Friday, the Colorado Medical Marijuana Scientific Advisory Council 
will consider a petition from Colorado group Vets 4 Freedoms to add 
post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of ailments the state 
considers treatable with medical cannabis. Previous groups have 
brought the petition multiple times, only to be denied every time by 
the Colorado Board of Health. This consideration is a prelude to one 
by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The 8:30 a.m. meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn (600 S. Colorado 
Blvd., Denver, 303/692-2184) is open to the public, though no 
comments will be accepted.

The Denver-based Cannabis Patients Alliance sounds optimistic. "This 
is the first time a petition will be reviewed by a 13-member 
committee in a public forum," it writes on its website, adding: 
"Previously, the [Colorado Department of Public Health and 
Environment] only looked at human clinical trials to make their 
decisions. ... Because the SAC included observational studies in the 
research they recommended for funding, it only seemed appropriate to 
also include observational studies when considering new petitions. So 
this time, both clinical trials and observational studies will be 
included in the review process."

Nationally, the federal government is taking its own look at links 
between treating PTSD and pot, reported military.com last week.

"The National Institute of Drug Abuse on Wednesday informed the 
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies that it is 
ready to supply researchers with marijuana needed for the study ..." 
Bryant Jordan wrote. "The study will mark the first federally 
approved study in which the subjects will be able to ingest the 
marijuana by smoking it, [a spokesman] said. It will also be 'the 
first whole-plant marijuana study,' meaning the marijuana will not 
simply be an extract of the cannabis in a manufactured delivery 
system, such as a pill."

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates between 11 and 20 
percent of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD.

Keef crumbs

It's called the HotBox Kara"Smokey" Club, but it's really just a 
space inside Speak Easy Vape Lounge (2508 E. Bijou St., 
speakeasycannabisclub.com) where performance and pot combine every 
Tuesday between 8 p.m. and midnight. Entrance is $5.

State Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont and point person for marijuana 
issues at the Capitol, said in a recent interview with the Denver 
Post that he could see cannabis clubs sticking around and being 
regulated by the state. "People are going to create their own public 
consumption spots," he says, "so I believe it is safer to create some 
rules for that type of consumption just as we have done with alcohol."

Colorado Springs is home to at least five such businesses, the most 
in the state.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom