Cannabis & PTSD: What one study can tell us about the combination so far

Via UK Ministry of Defense

New research on PTSD survivors using cannabis has shown some
very favorable results, shedding new light on cannabis as a treatment for this
disorder.

A recent study
 published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs by specialists Charles Grob, MD of
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Adam Halberstadt, PhD of University of
California San Diego, found that PTSD scores dropped from 80% to 75% in a
controlled study using cannabis as treatment.

The study was not completely clinical; rather, it was a look
at all the PTSD participants in New Mexico’s medical cannabis program. Because
New Mexico was the only state that listed PTSD as a qualifying condition for
cannabis treatment back in 2009 when the study started, this was the only place
where the study could be conducted. Now, seven other medical states allow
cannabis to be prescribed for PTSD.

While these findings are limited since they aren’t
technically from a clinical setting, medical practitioners are still very
hopeful about the results they found. “Though currently there is no substantial
proof of the efficacy of cannabis in PTSD treatment, the data reviewed here
supports a conclusion that cannabis is associated with PTSD symptom reduction
in some patients,” George Greer, a New Mexico medical doctor, reports. “A
prospective, placebo-controlled study of cannabis or its constituents for
treatment of PTSD is warranted.”

“It has also been reported that the synthetic cannabinoid
nabilone can reduce the incidence and severity of nightmares in PTSD patients,”
the study states, referring to a past study in Israel that found sufferers’
PTSD was reduced to up to 50%.

This is still just a start for PTSD and medical cannabis,
but hopefully this study will spur more verifiable research to continue, and
when that happens, we will be able to draw a more conclusive opinion about how
to best treat PTSD using cannabis.