Setback For Study On PTSD And Marijuana

A major setback for a first of its kind study to see if marijuana can ease the nightmares, insomnia, anxiety and flashbacks common in combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In April the Food and Drug Administration approved the study, but now the Department of Health and Human Services is refusing to sell government-grown marijuana to the nonprofit proposing the study.

HHS says it might eventually provide 13 pounds of marijuana but the proposal must pass the scrutiny of five committee members of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Those committee members are worried about things like monitoring patients closely, and side effects of the drug. One member suggests only service members who have never used marijuana should take part in the study, another thinks that they could suffer anxiety or panic attacks.

The head of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedlic Studies plans to modify the study and resubmit it.