MARIJUANA HOLDS PROMISE OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS RELIEF

Re: "Follow VA lead on medical marijuana," Aug. 1:

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' long overdue acknowledgement
of marijuana's medical efficacy has important implications for troops
returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In response to findings
that soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are successfully
self-medicating with marijuana, Israel is conducting clinical trials
on the use of marijuana derivatives to treat PTSD.

A groundbreaking study of 4,117 patients conducted by California
physician Thomas O'Connell found that marijuana is widely used as an
anti-anxiety/antidepressant agent, performing as well or better than
many currently available prescription drugs prescribed for the same
symptoms.

If organic marijuana is indeed an effective anti-anxiety medication
that doesn't have the troubling side-effects of synthetic
pharmaceuticals, shouldn't all veterans with PTSD have access rather
than just those in states with compassionate-use laws?

Robert Sharpe, Washington, D.C.

THE WRITER is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy. Dr.
O'Connell's research can be found at
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/4/1/16 . An example of
the latest Israeli research on cannabis and PTSD can be found on the
U.S. National Institute of Health's clinical trial website:
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00965809