WA Bill to Add PTSD as Qualifying Medical Cannabis Condition Unanimously Passes Senate Committee

WA Bill to Add PTSD as Qualifying Medical Cannabis Condition Unanimously Passes Senate Committee

The Washington State Senate Health Care Committee has unanimously passed a measure that would add post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a qualifying condition for those wanting to become medical cannabis patients.

Senate Bill 5379, which was filed by Senator Steve Hobbs who’s an active member of the Army National Guard, has been sent to the Senate Rules Committee, where its passage will set it up for a full Senate vote.

The unanimous vote is in line with recent science, which shows cannabis to be beneficial for those suffering with PTSD.

According to a study published in June, 2014 in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, cannabinoids may provide a viable treatment option for PTSD. A study published a short while later in December in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology found that cannabis can treat PTSD-induced nightmares.

In November, 2013, a government-funded study using human trials found that the cannabinoid system “may serve as a promising target for innovative intervention strategies (e.g. pharmacological enhancement of exposure-based therapy) in PTSD and other fear learning-related disorders.”

According to the National Institute of Health, PTSD affects around 7.7 million people in the United States.

If Senate Bill 5379 is approved into law, Washington will join Michigan, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Arizona and Oregon as states that have PTSD as a qualifying medical cannabis condition.

– TheJointBlog