Thor Benson / Cannabis News Box Contributor

Though medical cannabis is legal in 29 states, not all of them allow those with PTSD to join the program. Until recently, New York was a state that didn’t allow it, but that’s now changed. On Nov. 11, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law that adds PTSD to the list of eligible conditions for medical cannabis.

Though PTSD can be induced in many different ways, one of the groups that is most affected by the disorder is veterans. Many estimates have been done, but one significant one from 2012 found nearly 30 percent of veterans have PTSD. Using cannabis to treat PTSD has been popular among veterans for years, so it’s important that they can join medical cannabis programs in their states.

Dr. Sue Sisley is a physician who has worked with veterans for over 20 years. She is leading a study being done by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) that is looking at how cannabis may be able to treat PTSD in veterans. It is the first FDA- and DEA-approved clinical trial of its kind.

“Since there is still no help for veterans to access medical marijuana at the federal level, state governments need to do a much better job,” Sisley said.

She said Illinois is the only state that allows veterans to get a medical cannabis card without a doctor certification, and she thinks other states should follow that example.

“Most importantly, though, we need to convince the federal government to open up access, which means gathering federally acceptable data, which is what we’re doing with this study,” Sisley added.

Over 20 veterans commit suicide every day because of problems like PTSD, opioid addiction and more, and many believe medical cannabis can be the safest way for them to achieve psychological and physical healing without taking extremely addictive drugs. Sisley said one of the biggest barriers now is the Department of Veterans Affairs, which won’t let its doctors recommend medical cannabis.

“Sadly, adding PTSD to the list of qualifying conditions at the state level does not fix the problem of vet access to medical marijuana,” Sisley said. “The biggest blockade is the fact that VA doctors won’t write them a recommendation, so they have to pay a high price to get a doctor certification outside of the VA system. That’s hard for them, because most of the veterans who are utilizing cannabis are already on disability and quite impoverished.”

The news out of New York is certainly a step in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go until we’ll truly be giving veterans with PTSD and other ailments the options they need to live healthy lives and try to cure their conditions.