Officials in Arizona's Department of Health Services have been working to reform the state's medical marijuana program. With new rules filed for hearing and ten new state-licensed dispensaries, the state also approved the drug for treatment in patients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The director of the state's Department of Health Services, Will Humble, made the announcement on Wednesday, agreeing to include PTSD in the list of afflictions eligible for medical marijuana use. Only one study and some anecdotal evidence was all that was needed to convince Humble, who acknowledged that medical marijuana can merely help patients cope with the symptoms and not cure them of the disorder.
However, the one limitation required for prescribing the drug to PTSD patients is that doctors must first provide other potential treatments before providing the marijuana. If the patient has had a history of more conventional treatments and is still experiencing serious symptoms, he or she would be eligible for a prescription as well, but marijuana cannot be the first form of treatment. This makes Arizona the ninth state to allow medical marijuana for PTSD.
"The implementation date of this decision will be January 1, 2015," said Humble on the health department's Director's Blog. "This allows a few months for certifying physicians, dispensary medical directors, and dispensary agents to develop policies and procedures and educational materials required by our Rules."
A total of 50,000 patients in Arizona currently qualify for medical marijuana and are permitted to purchase two ounces every two weeks. According to Ken Sobel, a Tuscon attorney who represents the Arizona Cannabis Nurses Association, this is the first time since the approval of the medical marijuana law that a new condition was added for treatment. Humble previously rejected two proposals to include PTSD for medical marijuana treatment and asked the College of Public Health and the University of Arizona to examine peer-reviewed studies on the issue.
His approval yesterday was certainly a step in the right direction for PTSD patients. The severe anxiety disorder affects over 7.7 million Americans, and experts are concerned that there will be a 'flood' of PTSD cases coming soon after the military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2003, fewer than 200,000 Afghanistan and Iraq veterans suffered from PTSD, but that number has jumped to over 650,000 in 2013. There is not one treatment system for the disorder that is delivering high-quality care.
You can read more about Arizona's approval of medical marijuana for PTSD patients in this Arizona Daily Star article.
