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400 women will use 'weed tampons' for Harvard cannabis study
They cost about $11 and contain 60mg of THC, the main psychoactive component of marijuana, and 10mg of CBD.
10 October, 2018
- A new observational study will ask 400 women to track their menstrual symptoms over the course of a few months during which they'll administer marijuana suppositories.
- Marijuana suppositories are designed to alleviate the pain and stress of periods.
- The observational study is described as a "first step," with the ultimate goal being a clinical trial that includes placebos.
<p><span></span>Women have long used marijuana to alleviate the pain and stress of periods, though there's only anecdotal evidence showing the remedy actually works. An upcoming study hopes to change that by examining the potential benefits of "weed tampons," more accurately called marijuana suppositories.</p>
What are marijuana suppositories?
<p>Unlike traditional tampons that absorb menstrual blood, marijuana suppositories are designed only to help ease stress and pain from cramps, and therefore are seen as a replacement for conventional over-the-counter medications and narcotics. These suppositories have been on the market for years, though they've only been readily available in states where recreational marijuana is legal.</p><p>One suppository seller, California-based marijuana startup <a href="https://foriapleasure.com/" target="_blank">Foria Wellness</a>, which also offers cannabis-infused lubricant, sprays and vaporizer pens, sells a vaginal suppository product called Relief. Each suppository costs about $11 and contains 60mg of THC, the main psychoactive component of marijuana, and 10mg of CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid known for its pain-killing properties. The product has "minimal psychoactive effects," according to Foria.</p><p>Relief, which can be used alongside a traditional tampon, is made out of cocoa butter and dissolves shortly after insertion.</p><p>One customer <a href="https://foriapleasure.com/collections/all/products/relief?variant=12604550611031" target="_blank">wrote</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Extremely easy to insert, I used a tampon applicator. The suppository looks like a mini missle and It smells like cookie dough and cocoa butter. After 20 minutes I begin feeling a lower sensation. It was very nice and relaxing. It relieved some pressure in my lower back, especially while laying on my stomach."</p><p>Another <a href="https://foriapleasure.com/collections/all/products/relief?variant=12604550611031" target="_blank">wrote</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"I was visiting Colorado and in severe pain when someone suggested that I visit a dispensary and look for these. WOW! Literally saved my life. It was the first time in 7 years the muscles of my pelvis actually relaxed. The cramping after an hour was hardly noticeable and although TMI I was able to eliminate in a less painful way. These need to be LEGAL everywhere as they really are a medical intervention."</p><p>The largely positive response to marijuana suppositories like Relief helped inspire one Harvard researcher to pursue a first-of-its-kind study on the unconventional remedy.</p>An observational study on marijuana suppositories
<p>Staci Gruber, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core and the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery program, plans to conduct an observational survey of 400 women who will administer Foria's Relief suppositories over the course of a few months. The women will record their menstrual symptoms in an attempt to see if any correlative patterns emerge among the participants.</p><p>"What we're looking to do is take anecdotal information and turn it into data," Gruber <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/foria-studying-marijuana-effects-womens-health-menstrual-cramps-2018-10?utm_source=reddit.com" target="_blank">told</a> <em>Business Insider</em>, adding that the observational study, which will be funded by Foria and Flow Kana, is a first step and that a clinical trial would be the "holy grail".</p><p>However, studying marijuana treatments in clinical trials can be a long and difficult process because marijuana is still considered a Schedule 1 drug by the federal government. And though it'd be easier, from a legal perspective, for companies to sell (or pursue the study of) products containing only CBD (marijuana's non-psychoactive component), Foria CEO Mathew Gerson told <em>Business Insider</em> that the power of his products lies in the interactions between marijuana's multiple active compounds, a phenomenon known as the "entourage effect".</p><p>"We now know that the minute you break this plant apart into its component parts, you lose some of the magic," Gerson said. "And that sounds like hippie speak—but this is proven out again and again in study after study that the entourage effect as we understand it is real."</p>
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The DEA is finally changing how it regulates marijuana products
With the approval of a childhood epilepsy medication the federal government can no longer claim marijuana has no medical benefit.
01 October, 2018
Demonstrators Protest DEA Raids On Marijuana ClinicsWEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - JANUARY 18: Protesters demonstrate the day after Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raids shut down 11 medical marijuana clinics around Los Angeles County on January 18, 2007 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
- For the first time in nearly a half-century, the federal government has approved a medication with a cannabis compound.
- CBD is all the rage in health food stores, but credible research is needed to know what therapeutic applications hold up.
- DEA officer says this could signal a "sea change" in the legalization of cannabis-related products.
<br></li></ul>
<p>If you're confused about the legality of marijuana, you're not alone. While states have been in perpetual battle with the federal government since California legalized the medical usage of cannabis in 1996, things have been especially heated lately with more studies proving the clinical efficacy of the cannbidiols (CBD) contained in the marijuana plant. </p><p>It doesn't help that every coffee shop and health food store is taking advantage of this trend by selling eight-dollar bottles of cold brew coffee with CBD. Mass marketization was inevitable, certainly, but the pace with which CBD hit the shelves is astounding. The fact that it's being touted to cure every possible ailment imaginable does not help us figure out what CBS is actually useful for. </p><p>The cannabis plant has approximately 113 cannabinoids, of which CBD is one—it was first isolated in 1940. CBD interacts with our body's exogenous cannabinoid receptors and neurotransmitters. Since our body comes equipped with its own endocannabinoid system, responsible for pain, mood, memory, and, yes, appetite, we likely have a very long history with this plant. The munchies are real. </p><p>Among the many proposed therapeutic uses for CBD is treating two rare forms of childhood epilepsy. Clinical studies in this domain have been so successful that, for the first time ever, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-dea-cbd-2018-9?r=US&IR=T" target="_blank">DEA has stepped in</a> to allow prescriptions of Epidiolex. CBD will not get you high—that's THC—but for the first time since marijuana was officially outlawed in 1970 the federal government is green lighting one its compounds.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bd68849a4a79805387901f98197e3310"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0ygtX2nyexo?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Marijuana advocates have long known its classification as a Schedule 1 substance is <a href="https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/" target="_blank">more political than physiological</a>. The DEA's drug scheduling chart includes five categories:</p><ul><li>Schedule 1: no accepted medical use; high potential for abuse. Drugs include marijuana, heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and peyote</li><li>Schedule 2: high potential for abuse and dangerous. Drugs include Vicodin, OxyContin, fentanyl, Adderall, and Ritalin</li><li>Schedule 3: moderate to low potential for abuse. Drugs include codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids, and testosterone</li><li>Schedule 4: low potential for abuse or dependence. Drugs include Xanax, Ativan, Valium, Tramadol, and Darvon</li><li>Schedule 5: the lowest potential for abuse. Drugs include cough syrup, Lyrica, Parepectolin, and Lomotil<span></span></li></ul>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODY3NTEwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzkwNTUzMn0.h0km3nL5tVT74vq6BtUeCXLAHCniVPDyx09JrRyz1Zo/img.jpg?width=980" id="5d703" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0da91646e8df8e696936141cf66c264e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />VENICE, CA - JUNE 09: A general view of the MedMen Abbot Kinney store ribbon cutting ceremony on June 9, 2018 in Venice, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for MedMen Enterprises)<p>Since the Nixon era, cannabis consumers have had to rely on anecdotal evidence. (As a cancer survivor, I'll chime in that edibles were way more effective at quelling post-chemo stomach pains and returning my appetite, one of the many claimed applications.) Recent research shows a wide range of therapeutic applications, including helping <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166223617300012" target="_blank">opioid addicts manage pain</a>, helping everyone <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/new-national-academies-sciences-report-marijuana-cannabis-health-effects-2017-1?r=US&IR=T" target="_blank">deal with chronic pain</a>, <a href="https://today.uic.edu/low-dose-thc-can-relieve-stress-more-does-just-the-opposite" target="_blank">deal with stress</a> (at low doses), ease pain associated with <a href="http://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2012/05/14/cmaj.110837" target="_blank">multiple sclerosis</a>, and may even, somewhat counterintuitively, help <a href="http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(13)00200-3/abstract" target="_blank">combat the obesity epidemic</a>. </p><p>As with all such studies, more research is needed. Advocates should welcome this. If it turns out that compounds in the cannabis plant do not really help opioid addicts manage pain, we shouldn't use it as a calling card for legalization (although this one is <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/04/02/598787768/opioid-use-lower-in-states-that-eased-marijuana-laws" target="_blank">holding up</a>). Now that at least one medication is FDA-approved, however, the DEA should immediately remove marijuana from its Schedule 1 listing. Those two facts cannot co-exist without obvious contradiction. </p><p>The mainstreaming of clinical research is also necessary to reduce cost. Right now, Epidiolex will run you <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-first-fda-approved-marijuana-medication-epidiolex-2018-8" target="_blank">$32,500 annually</a>. Parents of children suffering from seizures don't deserve that kind of pain on top of what they already have to deal with, especially not in a medication with as common an ingredient as CBD. </p><p>And we might see that day soon. Barbara Carreno, the DEA's PR officer, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-dea-cbd-2018-9?r=US&IR=T" target="_blank">recently said</a> a "sea change" is possible within the entire CBD industry. As the cash rolls in, this is likely to be the case: CBD is expected to be worth <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/markets/cbd-industry-expected-to-hit-2-billion-by-2022-14683940" target="_blank">$2 billion</a> annually by 2022. It might not get you high, but most importantly, it will be available when you actually need it.</p><p><span></span>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.</em></p>
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Texas has its first legal medical marijuana transaction
The first medicinal marijuana patient in Texas uses it to treat severe epilepsy. And although 10 companies are allowed to grow marijuana within Texas state borders, the substance itself is still illegal.
04 February, 2018
Marijuana / Texas flag
Texas passed a certain milestone as it became the 30th state in the U.S. to administer legal medical marijuana after doctors in central Texas prescribed CDB oil to a 6 year-old girl with epilepsy.
<p></p><p>Before you start envisioning Willie Nelson playing Bob Marley covers on the streets of Austin in celebration, marijuana is still illegal — both recreationally and medically — in the state of Texas. Yes, you read that correctly. Despite the prescription being completely legal, the company producing the marijuana being completely legal, marijuana itself is still illegal. That's due to a 2015 ruling that allows marijuana to be prescribed if all other epilepsy treatments fail. The girl was prescribed CBD oil <span>which has an extremely low THC quantity (often less than 1%) meaning that there's </span>almost<span> no chance the epilepsy patient feels any "buzz" whatsoever. THC — the "stoner" chemical found in marijuana that brings on giggles, munchies, and sometimes paranoia — <a href="https://madebyhemp.com/does-cbd-have-thc/" target="_blank">only takes up 1/3rd of 1%</a> (.03%) of commercial CBD oil. </span></p> <p></p><p>Interestingly, the marijuana that makes the CBD oil is being grown legally in Texas by <a href="https://www.newcannabisventures.com/tag/cansortium-texas/" target="_blank">Cansortium Texas</a>, who are one of roughly 10 companies allowed to grown marijuana for medical purposes in the lone star state. Another fun fact: <a href="http://tpr.org/post/texas-dps-proposes-13-million-increase-fee-cbd-oil-dispensaries#stream/0" target="_blank">it costs about $1.3 million</a> to become a legal marijuana grower in Texas, a massive jump from the $6,000 application fee before the 2015 ruling. </p> <p></p><p>Texas may not be immediately following in the footsteps of California's fully legal recreational marijuana legislation, but if the current groundswell of support for marijuana continues, it might not be that long, either. </p> <p></p><p> </p> <p></p><div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="barney-frank-marijuana-legalization-will-follow-in-gay-marriages-footsteps" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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American University Unveils New Degree: Marijuana Chemistry
A Midwestern university has created a first-of-its-kind program in medicinal plant chemistry that focuses on marijuana.
26 September, 2017
Sir Billy Connolly received an honorary degree From Strathclyde University. Here's what his honorary degree from NMU might look like. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
<p dir="ltr">Northern Michigan University is offering students the chance to major in a <a href="https://www.nmu.edu/chemistry/why-medicinal-plant-chemistry" target="_blank">new program called medicinal plant chemistry</a> — marijuana analysis, basically.</p> <p dir="ltr">The program is the first of its kind at a four-year university in the U.S., according to <a href="http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/09/21/northern-michigan-university-the-first-in-u-s-to-train-undergrads-for-marijuana-industry/" target="_blank"><span>CBS Detroit</span></a>. Students will take classes in chemistry, plant biology and business entrepreneurship, and the program will also feature a capstone “research experience” involving “experimental horticulture and instrumental analysis of natural products.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span>As far as hands-on experience?</span></p> <blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">“We’re not going to be actually growing anything on campus,” said Brandon Canfield, associate chemistry professor at Northern Michigan University, to <a href="http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/09/21/northern-michigan-university-the-first-in-u-s-to-train-undergrads-for-marijuana-industry/" target="_blank">CBS Detroit</a>. “Maybe following the 2018 Michigan election, maybe we’ll revisit that depending on the outcome and what ballots are present on that election. But for now, we’re not going to be growing any cannabis. We’ll be practicing extraction and analysis techniques on other plant systems.”</p>
</blockquote> <p dir="ltr"><span>Canfield said the school created the program in response to the growing medical marijuana industry.</span></p> <blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">“The need for this is so great. You go to some of these cannabis industry conferences and everyone is talking about how they need labs, they need labs,” he <a href="http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/09/21/northern-michigan-university-the-first-in-u-s-to-train-undergrads-for-marijuana-industry/" target="_blank">said</a>. “Or the bigger operations are trying to set up their own labs in house and they need trained analysts. And the skill set required to perform these analysis is perfectly matched with an undergraduate level education.”</p>
</blockquote> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-b87fe4fa-bf6d-6b9c-39d7-2a8772f0900a"><span><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDU5NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NjcwMTMxNH0.TP_77jVQeVqLmHMpIKM5EiYre1Wx-5gVbjqEm8FiAH0/img.png?width=980" id="6182b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a4aeed086d4ca281ec7c874f650f8139" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></span></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span>The program will prepare students for careers in either the medical or recreational marijuana industry.</span></p> <blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">“I predict that the graduates from our program are going to have among the highest immediate job placement of any of our programs,” Canfield <a href="http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/09/21/northern-michigan-university-the-first-in-u-s-to-train-undergrads-for-marijuana-industry/" target="_blank">said</a>. “People are either going to go out and get jobs or they might go out and start their own business in the industry.”</p>
</blockquote> <p dir="ltr"><span>The economic data seems to back him up. Marijuana sales boomed by 30 percent in 2016 to $6.7 billion in the U.S. and Canada. It’s now fully legal in eight states, which means that 1 in 5 of the total U.S. population lives in a legal adult-use market.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODM0MDU5NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjQ0NTg0NH0.65vSsgfCN6jmHYZv6t9hTeR7pvDtdpwWq0CsxeoN2zA/img.jpg?width=980" id="8b144" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="55dcd8ed90e802833f2e919eb2bba818" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p dir="ltr">North American marijuana sales are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/debraborchardt/2017/01/03/marijuana-sales-totaled-6-7-billion-in-2016/#4c61228e75e3" target="_blank">projected</a> to top $20.2 billion by 2021. This kind of industry growth is unprecedented, even compared to the dot-com era, and it’s expected to create some 250,000 jobs by 2020, according to a <a href="https://newfrontierdata.com/annualreport2017/" target="_blank"><span>report</span></a> from New Frontier Data. That’s more than the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2015/article/projections-industry.htm" target="_blank"><span>expected jobs</span></a> in U.S. manufacturing.</p> <p>But there's another reason it could be especially lucrative to jump into the marijuana business right now, as the Northern Michigan University program website notes:</p> <blockquote>
<p><span>The historical stigma associated with cannabis is quickly vanishing, and although there is a surge in businesses related to the marijuana economy, there is a major gap in educational opportunities available to prepare people for this field.</span></p>
</blockquote> <p>In other words, the demand for labor is high while supply is low. It's not too surprising. The industry is still in its infancy and middle America is only just beginning to lower its eyebrows to the idea of marijuana — medicinal and recreational. After all, recreational marijuana is still illegal in most states, including Michigan, which will <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Marijuana_on_the_ballot" target="_blank">vote on legalization</a> this November. </p> <p>In the meantime, those willing to spend their college tuition preparing for careers in the marijuana industry might profit big on a relatively safe bet.</p> <div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="ethan-nadelmann-marijuana-is-legal-your-move-eric-holder" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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Vets say marijuana treats PTSD, but their doctors can't prescribe it
22 February, 2017
Soldiers with the U.S. Army march in the annual Veteran's Day Parade along Fifth Avenue on November 11, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
- About 7–8 percent of the nation's population will have PTSD at some point in their lifetime.
- Military veterans nationwide want those diagnosed with PTSD to be able to get a VA doctor's recommendation for medical marijuana.
- Experts say that more studies are needed to prop up the claims that marijuana effectively treats PTSD
PTSD develops after a person experiences, or is a witness to, a life-threatening or traumatic event — a natural disaster, for example — or is exposed to combat, or sexual or physical abuse. Symptoms can include and range from anxiety, insomnia and hypervigilance, to struggling with disturbing memories, or managing emotions and behaviors.
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Y7VwjTq90w?ecver=2" target="_blank">In a YouTube video</a>, titled, <em>U.S. Vets with PTSD Smoke Weed</em>, military veterans, seated next to one another detail the pain of living with PTSD. The clip has already attracted nearly two million views. Off camera, a man asks the group about PTSD.</p> <p dir="ltr">With his eyes downcast, one man, wearing an Army t-shirt, weighs in first, “The anxiety is there, and I've come to peace after this many years of dealing with therapy, that it's never going to completely go away," he said. Dan, seated in the middle, offers, “I just kinda check out sometimes," his hands folded, resting on the table. “Posttraumatic stress disorder, is, a fucking thorn in my side," veteran number three finally sums up his experience.</p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwOTU1My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzIxOTUwMH0.hkeeHT0LEzUiTr8uJLk2kGGUsUjmV1-1ycpcx17ffMI/img.jpg?width=980" id="e0b76" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b2e7a19316b8dad39d6f30a15b4d24e0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p dir="ltr"><em><strong>Marijuana cigarettes are on display at the Drug Enforcement Agency Museum (DEA) in Arlington, Virginia. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)</strong></em></p> <p dir="ltr">One sunny afternoon, a year after Air Force veteran Colleen Bushnell told military authorities that she had been sexually assaulted, allegedly by a fellow service member, Bushnell was in southern California to visit a friend. Clouds plucked from a marshmallow bag hung low from the cerulean sky, while the ocean's waves crashed along the shore. The fresh air, cool breeze and the bed of Bushnell's friend beckoned her weary body and mind; it was time to relax.</p> <p dir="ltr">In 2004, Bushnell, was diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder stemming from the attack. A dizzying array of treatments are available for people, diagnosed with PTSD, from cognitive and behavioral therapies to prescription drug treatments, and holistic or alternative remedies, including medical marijuana. </p> <p dir="ltr">When Bushnell arrived at her friend's California home, she hadn't slept in more than two days. Her friend, who was also a military veteran, had been severely injured in Afghanistan, and suggested Bushnell use edible cannabis. “I had never used marijuana. I'm very much against using illegal substances," recalled Bushnell. “I'm a mother and want to set a good example, but for the first time in years, I could sleep and for a moment, there was no [emotional] pain."</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>There is now a clear majority of states that have comprehensive medical marijuana laws on the books - 28 states, plus the District of Columbia,</strong> according to Tom Angell, the founder of <a href="https://www.marijuanamajority.com/">Marijuana Majority</a>, a 501c3 public education non-profit, medical marijuana advocacy organization. He says, in many of those states, PTSD is a qualifier to legally obtain medical marijuana, but military veterans diagnosed with PTSD, and whose medical care is provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), face unique challenges. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>“The VA's policies on medical marijuana are still quite outdated," said Angell.</strong> “Doctors at the VA are not able to make recommendations to use medical marijuana. They're not allowed to fill out recommendation forms that would allow veterans to use medical marijuana legally under state law," added Angell.</p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwOTU1NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTU5ODQ5OX0.idLUySfHYH17dduEP1fhG_f6x6Exbya46LARVupH-4M/img.jpg?width=980" id="257a7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="671137e565ea686645ad6a424c40be8f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p dir="ltr"><em><strong>Sean Azzariti, a veteran of the Iraq war, makes the first legal recreational marijuana purchase in Colorado from advocate Betty Aldworth at the 3-D Denver Discrete Dispensary on January 1, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Theo Stroomer/Getty Images)</strong></em></p> <p dir="ltr">The last thing TJ Thompson remembered before waking in a hospital emergency room was approaching the ship he did not want to board. One afternoon, in 2001, following an appointment with his psychiatrist, the Navy sailor was set to return to duty, but as he drove closer to the naval station, his thoughts betrayed him. “I tried to swallow all my pills that I had on the ship and slit my wrists a bunch of times." Thompson said from his home, near Virginia Beach, Virginia. At the time of his suicide attempt, he was taking daily doses of Zoloft and Gabapentin, for depression and anxiety.</p> <p dir="ltr">By 2011, Thompson's medical providers at the VA medical center where he sought mental health treatment had prescribed a half-dozen other medications: Trazadone, Aripriprazole (Abilify), Loreazapam (Ativan), Citalopram (Celexa), Risperidone (Risperdal) and Divalproex (Depakote). Almost ten years after his first suicide attempt, Thompson tried to take his life again. </p> <p dir="ltr">While recovering from his second attempt at suicide, clinicians recommended yet another cocktail of prescription drugs, but Thompson found relief elsewhere. <strong>“I had some friends, in the restaurant industry, say, look, you need to get off these pills, and this is how you're going to do it," said Thompson. </strong>He now uses marijuana multiple times a day.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My preferred method, [the] way I use it the most, is just smoking it out of a bong," Thompson said. “For me, on an average day with not a lot of stressors involved, probably every two-and-a-half to three hours," he continued. “I might just take a couple of hits off of a bong --- It's probably maybe between a quarter and a half a gram of marijuana."</p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwOTU1NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDA4NDMwMH0.u3bHPOa8GZTPFeIMZpoGdxjXM-29W3tD8CndRkC7rlU/img.jpg?width=980" id="7a31f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c7759d82f2c727372b2370e77ee21586" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p dir="ltr"><em><strong>The exterior of the Veterans Affairs Hospital is seen in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)</strong></em></p> <p>Dr. Paula Schnurr, the Executive Director of the <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/" title="VA National Center for PTSD">VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder</a> estimates of the nearly twenty-million veterans nationwide, “close to six million" receive their healthcare at VA run medical centers, and approximately 10% of that population are being treated for PTSD. Researchers at the organization have not examined the “overall Veteran population," but among those using VA medical centers, and diagnosed with PTSD, each year cannabis use is steadily rising. </p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the growing popularity and marketing of medical marijuana, Dr. Schnurr says the science hasn't caught up with the claims of its supporters. <strong>“I'm extremely surprised that people think that the research is there," said Dr. Schnurr.</strong> “It has been very challenging to do this kind of research on marijuana for any condition, and not just PTSD." </p> <p dir="ltr">She suggests more studies are needed to prop up the claims that marijuana effectively treats PTSD. “What we need in order to say a drug works or a type of psychotherapy works is multiple well-done studies in which people are randomized to treatment, and there's an appropriate control," she said. “In drug studies, you need placebo control, and the idea is that in the drug studies that the patients and the clinicians don't know whether a person is getting drug or placebo. So already for marijuana, it's challenging to do that work, because of the euphoric effects of most preparations," added Schnurr.</p> <p dir="ltr">This summer, Colleen Bushnell, the military sexual assault survivor, who still seeks treatment to address the emotional wounds from the sexual assault, and her fiancée moved from Texas, to Buckeye, Arizona. They wanted to settle in a state where local medical marijuana laws were in their favor. The nation's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) considers marijuana a Schedule I drug; it is illegal, even for medical use. <strong>"It bothers me, that [I'm] still violating federal law," said Bushnell.</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">TJ Thompson is advocating for changing the law. “My kids were able to see that progress. They saw me go from being locked in the bedroom all the time, not being able to talk to them without yelling at them," said Thompson, who is now a culinary chef, “to being successful in my education path, being able to work with people, being able to go and stand in front of the Senate press gallery."</p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" dir="ltr"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQwOTU1Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjY4MjE4MX0.71cpBciA-VWy4ofcmYKcI8lQ2hi14NTupZBgYcrZk6Y/img.png?width=980" id="ba110" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="93f7ba17b7a2212c1b2d16a8ca427325" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><em><strong>T.J. Thompson, military veteran and advocate for medical cannabis speaks during a press conference with Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ, to support a new medical marijuana bill at the US Capitol on March 10, 2014 in Washington, DC. The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule II drug and would amend federal law to allow states to set their own medical marijuana policies.</strong></em></p> <p>Despite more than a decade of honorable service in the military, every time he seeks escape from the symptoms surrounding his PTSD and utilizes marijuana, Thompson is considered a criminal. For his children's sake, it's a label that carries a heavy burden. “They've seen my healing path, so they understand, and they understand that [for me] it is a medicine."</p> <p dir="ltr">The DEA announced plans to begin allowing researchers to use marijuana grown outside its facility in Mississippi. <strong>Medical marijuana advocates saw it as a step forward, but the federal agency still fell short of supporting a proposal that would remove cannabis from a list of its most dangerous category of narcotics.</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">“If it treats anxiety and it gives me a moment of peace, I'm all for it," says the veteran, in the <em>U.S. Vets with PTSD Smoke Weed</em> video. Moments later, after a bong is presented to the three men sitting at the table, one of the veterans grabs a lighter, lights the green glass bong, and then inhales. A cough follows, as the bong is passed to another man in the group. A graphic appears, “5 minutes later," and the veteran who initially described his life with PTSD as a “thorn in my side," folds his arms and succinctly details his current state of mind, “I'm happy."</p> <p class="flex-video shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f131910373142c1228e1cea73b21399d"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Y7VwjTq90w?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span></p> <p>--</p> <p>Christina Brown Fisher is an independent multimedia journalist, based in New York City. She is an U.S. Air Force Veteran. Christina is also a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) survivor, and has been diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.</p>
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