Colorado Court of Appeals to Address Medical Marijuana as a Use for PTSD Treatment

Colorado residents currently seeking the use of medical marijuana as a treatment for PTSD are taking their court case to the Court of Appeals. Just last year, four military veterans and one sexual assault survivor filed a complaint against the Colorado Board of Health, which had ruled that PTSD was not a qualifying condition under the state’s medical marijuana program.

In May, Denver District Court Judge R. Michael Mullins affirmed the Board of Health’s decision,  ruling that the members acted within the code of the state constitution and within the means of the state statutes. Evidently, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the majority of the Medical Marijuana Scientific Advisory Council favorably viewed the addition of PTSD as a qualifying condition, although it did not preclude the board from denying the petition based on a lack of sufficient evidence, Mullins wrote in his court order.

Including Illinois, which recently was ordered by a judge to add PTSD as a qualifying condition, a total of 17 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Guam allow for medical marijuana as a recommendation for PTSD, according to data from the Marijuana Policy Project. That number holds the ability to grow depending on how ballot initiatives fare in other states this fall.

The Colorado Board of Health has not added any new conditions for the medical marijuana program since its inception, said Mark Salley, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Citing state regulations, Salley said the board moved to deny petitions mainly due to a lack of “peer-reviewed published studies of randomized controlled trials or well-designed observational studies showing efficacy in humans.” Depending on whether oral arguments are to be requested, a decision from the appeals court could come