On October 14, 2014, MAPS submitted a proposal to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment requesting $2 million for our planned study of marijuana for symptoms of PTSD in 76 U.S. veterans. The state of Colorado has $9 million available for marijuana research, and the response to our submission is expected in late November or December. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that they will be able to provide the marijuana for our study in January 2015. The study is the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the therapeutic potential of smoked marijuana and its components as a treatment for PTSD.
This will be a two-site study led by Principal Investigator Sue Sisley, M.D., who will conduct her portion of the study in her private practice office in Arizona or at Arizona State University, and a second Principal Investigator, Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D., who will conduct his portion of the study at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. On September 25, veterans and medical marijuana advocates spoke to the Arizona Board of Regents in favor of Dr. Sisley, encouraging ASU to host part of the study there. Dr. Sisley is currently in discussions with ASU about the possibility of hosting the study there. Watch: Arizona’s Channel 12 News reports
Marcel Bonn-Miller, Ph.D., of the VA National Center for PTSD will serve as Coordinating Principal Investigator, and Paula Riggs, M.D., of the University of Colorado, Denver will serve as Senior Scientific Advisor. Blood analysis will be conducted at the University of Colorado, Boulder. MAPS will be responsible for FDA approval, project and data management and monitoring, drug accountability, and ensuring Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines are followed throughout the study. “It is a major triumph that we have built this outstanding team of top researchers, partnering with national experts at the VA, NIDA, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Colorado,” said MAPS executive director Rick Doblin, Ph.D. “The obstacles we’ve faced have ultimately strengthened the study.” Learn more | Read the RFA
