Group wants medical marijuana to treat PTSD
Oct 29, 2013, 5:29 PM | Updated: 5:29 pm
PHOENIX — A group of nurses is petitioning the Arizona Department of Health Services to add Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to the list of conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana.
At a hearing Tuesday in Phoenix, the group’s president Heather Manus told an ADHS panel that marijuana can help veterans, sexual assault victims and others who suffer from PTSD.
“It really deals with the memories they have,” she said. “It helps them to sleep, it does away with flashbacks, it helps them to live a better quality of life, so that they can be comfortable and do the things that they’re used to doing.”
Manus said medical marijuana is already being allowed to treat PTSD in New Mexico and is working wonders.
“When they’re on other pharmaceuticals, they sometimes become homebound and they’re unable to drive or they get afraid to leave their home,” she said. “With cannabis, it seems to take care of those things.”
The health department said it will rule on whether to use medical marijuana to treat PTSD in December. Manus said if it isn’t approved, the Nurses’ Association will take the health department to court.
