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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom