![\"washington_state_medial_marijuana_canna_chroncile\"](\"http:\/\/cannachronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/washington_state_medial_marijuana_canna_chroncile.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe State of Washington\u2019s Legislature agreed this year to an overhaul of Washington\u2019s<\/p>\n
medical-marijuana system. These changes take effect Friday. They add PTSD and traumatic<\/p>\n
brain injuries to the conditions a medical provider can cite in authorizing the medical cannabis<\/p>\n
therapy. The formal research on pot as treatment for PTSD has been limited and inconclusive.<\/p>\n
\u00a0One state-funded Colorado study is just getting started. And, a study last year from the<\/p>\n
University of Arizona was cut short when the school abruptly fired the lead researcher, Dr. Sue<\/p>\n
Sisley, without cause. Yet, thousands of veterans in medical marijuana states are utilizing the<\/p>\n
plant for treatment. After all this, the federal government remains unconvinced, although last<\/p>\n
month the U.S. Senate did approve for VA doctors to recommend it in legal states.<\/p>\n
Washington will be the 11th state to specifically include PTSD as a qualifying condition.<\/p>\n
Medical-marijuana authorization cards aren\u2019t traditionally difficult to obtain in Washington, and<\/p>\n
the stores that dispense medical pot haven\u2019t been heavily regulated. But the legal changes<\/p>\n
taking effect Friday tighten language on medical conditions and crack down on providers<\/p>\n
making a living churning out cards. Other parts of the overhaul law, Senate Bill 5052, hit next<\/p>\n
year and force shops to obtain new state licenses or shut down. Activists are raising money for<\/p>\n
a court challenge to the law and plan a rally Friday at the Capitol Campus.<\/p>\n
But, a rally on Wednesday celebrated the parts of the law that provide new access for<\/p>\n
military veterans. An average of 22 veterans commit suicide daily, according to one estimate<\/p>\n
from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Hence the name the advocates have adopted:<\/p>\n
Twenty22Many, pronounced \u201ctwenty-two too many.\u201d Members meet at Rainier Xpress, a<\/p>\n
downtown Olympia medical-marijuana shop whose owner Patrick Seifert is a lead organizer of\u00a0the group.<\/p>\n
Washington law now allows any adult 21 or older to buy marijuana in state-licensed<\/p>\n
stores. But a medical authorization for PTSD is the right approach and many veterans hope the<\/p>\n
VA will one day use marijuana as part of their treatment plan. Yet, all isn\u2019t green in paradise.<\/p>\n
Colorado health officials on Wednesday rejected a bid by medical marijuana advocates<\/p>\n
to put cannabis on a list of approved treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder, an agency<\/p>\n
spokesman said. While Colorado has allowed the use of medical marijuana to treat various<\/p>\n
ailments since 2001, the state’s health board has three times refused to put PTSD on its<\/p>\n
approved list. A similar proposal failed in the state legislature last year.<\/p>\n
The spokesman, Mark Salley, said the Colorado Board of Health voted 6-2 to reject a petition<\/p>\n
for PTSD to be included as a “debilitating condition” that can be treated with medical pot.<\/p>\n
Having PTSD listed as a condition treatable with medical marijuana would allow<\/p>\n
physicians to recommend strains that provide relief without the drug\u2019s psychoactive properties,<\/p>\n
and allow for improved tracking of its efficacy. The board cited insufficient medical evidence<\/p>\n
that cannabis helps those afflicted with the mental-health condition.<\/p>\n
The irony is that the members that voted against us stated a lack of scientific research<\/p>\n
and data, and just voted against collecting such data. On its website, the health board says<\/p>\n
medical marijuana may be recommended for sufferers of cancer, glaucoma, cancer and<\/p>\n
HIV\/AIDS. It also says cannabis may be recommended for people who have “a chronic or<\/p>\n
debilitating disease” that produces persistent muscle spasms, extreme weight loss, severe pain\u00a0and nausea or seizures.<\/p>\n
As a former airmen, this author knows that we do not leave our fellow brothers in arms<\/p>\n
behind. That is exactly what the bureaucrats in Colorado have done.<\/p>\n