News Veterans Using Pot To Ease Ptsd, Despite Limited Research To Support Its Use

[anthony]

A growing number of states are weighing whether to legalize marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. But for many veterans, the debate is already over.

They’re increasingly using cannabis even though it remains illegal in most states and is unapproved by the Department of Veterans Affairs because major studies have yet to show it is effective against PTSD.

While the research has been contradictory and limited, some former members of the military say pot helps them manage their anxiety, insomnia and nightmares. Prescription drugs such as Klonopin and Zoloft weren’t effective or left them feeling like zombies, some say.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/03/22/veterans-are-using-pot-to-east-ptsd-despite-scant-research/

http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/03/...a-research-department-veterans-affairs/50565/

 

[anthony]

Lets see how the lacking research affects: http://www.westword.com/news/inside...ed-against-colorado-by-vets-with-ptsd-7728656

 

[Ed Norton]

Big pharma, Big Alcohol, Big Prison industrial Complex, Big Tobacco that's the real reason, in general...only big pharma seems to be mentioned.
I think a few non-veterans may find weed helpful too ;)

With me, the anti-weed establishment's arguments fall upon deaf ears like the Bishop's pleas for his life to King George III

 

[anthony]

I think https://www.myptsd.com/threads/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-cannabis-for-ptsd.86550/ is pretty extensive Ed... and the cons outweigh the pros. Nothing has changed, the long term affects of cannabis use are bad for the brain and body compared to any short term gain.

If you said it is personal choice, that I can live with... but the science is quite evidenced. Every person I've ever spoken to who said pot help them, I just washed it off and left it be, personal choice. Those same people who had used it for years, decades even, when they got off of it, they felt like a completely different person and couldn't believe how much the pot was screwing them around. What they thought helped them initially, actually caused far more damage over the years.

If you told me you were going to smoke pot to help with symptoms WHILST you did extensive trauma therapy, I would honestly congratulate such a decision. 6 months, a year, even two at most... but then you have to wean yourself off of it just like pharmaceuticals. Once off, you will find a whole different, improved, version of yourself. That is what each person has so far told me to date who fit those circumstances.

Those who keep using it... they're just drug addicts, nothing more. It isn't good nor bad to me, not my body, not my brain.

 

[Ed Norton]

Yes, I have read that. It is personal choice, in my case. definitely

 

[Ed Norton]

I can't edit on this slow device.

Indeed I use it in conjunction with therapy, unknown to my T; it is a potent antidepressant for me and anxiolytic. I actually suffered anxiety for a long time before trauma, with good reason. I think without weed I never would have completed school. I found it easy to stop when it came to flying. I use it only on occasion when my depression peaks. like all medications there are risks and side effects but all my post in this thread are from a personal perspectiv