The Obama administration is having a difficult time making up its mind over whether to green-light the first-ever study of marijuana and its medicinal impact on veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The plan was to test five different doses of marijuana on 50 combat veterans with PTSD whose symptoms have not improved with the aid of conventional treatments, such as talk therapy, antidepressants and anti-anxiety medicines.
But in order to carry out the study, MAPS needed to legally obtain marijuana through the
Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA. This week, the department refused to sell government-grown marijuana to MAPS, effectively putting a halt to the research project.
MAPS is now taking the government to court, with the help of the Washington, DC-based law firm
Covington & Burling, which is representing the nonprofit for free. This is the same firm that used to employ Attorney General
Eric Holder.
“Hundreds of veterans in medical marijuana states already report using marijuana to control their PTSD symptoms,” MAPS said in a statement. “The growing number of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with combat-related trauma combined with large numbers of treatment-resistant veterans highlights the pressing need for research into additional treatments for PTSD.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff