NPR: “Can Marijuana Ease PTSD? A Debate Brews” (Podcast)

Originally appearing here.

This article reports on persons with PTSD, including veterans of war, who are using medical marijuana to ease anxiety and other symptoms, the debate within the Veterans Affairs, and the conflict between state laws and federal laws.

“The Department of Veterans Affairs finds itself in a difficult position because some vets want to use marijuana to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Pot possession remains illegal under federal law. The VA says that as a federal agency its doctors can’t recommend using it.

The problem is especially acute in New Mexico, where one-fourth of the state’s more than 1,600 medical marijuana patients are PTSD sufferers.”