VA policy opposes addictive drugs for PTSD, prescribes them anyway By Steven Giles in Medical, News April 26, 2013 Against their own policy, the Department of Veteran Affairs would rather treat veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder with addictive benzodiazepines tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax - instead of using prohibited medical marijuana, despite studies showing cannabis to be a safer alternative. Current Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs guidelines caution providers from using benzodiazepines tranquilizers as a treatment for combat related PTSD. "Once initiated, benzodiazepines can be very difficult, if not impossible, to discontinue due to significant withdrawal symptoms compounded by the underlying PTSD symptoms," the VA/Department of Defense guidelines state. More >> Prescription Drugs May Add To The Fog Of War Veterans Form Pro-Legal Marijuana Group Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access "The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) medical corps, in cooperation with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is introducing the use of THC, the active agent in the cannabis plant, which helps relieve post-traumatic stress disorders, on an experimental basis," an army statement said. Military Veterans Say Pot Eases PTSD Study: Marijuana Eases Traumatic Memories Pot Blocks Painful Memories, Study Says Pot-Like Chemical Helps Beat Fear Natural molecules that act like the primary active ingredient in marijuana apparently play a key part in helping the brain wipe away fearful memories, perhaps averting undue anxiety and panic attacks, researchers report. The discovery, detailed in the British journal Nature, could lead to the development of psychiatric drugs for the treatment of such fear-based conditions as phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder, they said. Ganja 4 PTSD & Depression Psychedelic Science Conference Examines MDMA Treatment for PTSD Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder have gotten approval for a Phase II study of MDMA with people with chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD, but it wasn’t easy, they said. Sometimes the regulatory niggling borders on the absurd, they said. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies Treating PTSD with MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy PTSD May Join Oregon Medical Marijuana List Item 3: Noted scientist Rick Doblin (of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)) responds to DEA. FDA Approves Study of Cannabis for PTSD The long-maligned field of U.S. medical cannabis research took a step forward with the formal government approval of a study on the efficacy of marijuana to treat chronic post-traumatic stress disorder in war veterans. Dr. Rick Doblin, executive director of the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) in Santa Cruz, Calif., said today in an interview that the Food and Drug Administration on April 28 approved MAPS’ protocol for a study of smoked and vaporized marijuana use for symptoms of PTSD. Marijuana May Be Studied for Combat Disorder DEA Rejects UMass Request To Grow Med Marijuana Prof. Questions Gov't Monopoly on Marijuana Cannabis News Search: PTSD NeoConflicts of Interest MJ Research Cut as Support Grows Bush Barthwell & Drugs Arnold Leff: What's behind the crime? Cannabis, the Importance of Forgetting Granny Storm Crow's MMJ List Did the Veterans Administration Unseat Marijuana From Schedule I? Cannabis catch-22 PTSD patients could be dropped from state's medical program Nat Dean, shown with her assistance dog, Tommy, at their home in Santa Fe on Friday, developed chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder from injuries she sustained in a car crash in 1984. At one point, she was taking 27 different medications to ease her symptoms. She says the cannabis she uses through the state’s Medical Cannabis Program is an alternative tool that helps her more than all of her previous medications combined. The Heartlessness of Dying for Prohibition 3 million children are taking stimulant drugs for ADHD (Meth) JOHN WYETH & BROTHERS CANNABIS POWDER Many Veterans are the Enemy in the D.E.A.th War Sam Stone came home, To his wife and family After serving in the conflict overseas. And the time that he served, Had shattered all his nerves, And left a little shrapnel in his knee. But the morphine eased the pain, And the grass grew round his brain, And gave him all the confidence he lacked, With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back. There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mo7p7ictF8"]YouTube Some California Needle Exchange Programs Emerge from Shadows as New Law Takes Effect The dawn of 2000 brought a glimmer of hope to California’s 24 syringe exchange programs and a wait-and-see attitude from several veterans of one of drug policy reform’s highest-stakes battlegrounds. Making Sure Drugs Kill "You Can't Stop AIDS Without Ending the Drug War" John Prine "But your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more. We're already overcrowded From your dirty little war. Now Jesus don't like killin' No matter what the reason's for, And your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1qE2vJdDw4"]Flag Decal - John Prine - YouTube