Arizona Forces Prerequisite for PTSD Sufferers Seeking Medical Marijuana

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that took some fighting to get on the qualified conditions list in Arizona, and the Arizona Court of Appeals just upheld the extra – and unnecessary – requirement set for PTSD by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Arizona medical marijuana doctors can’t recommend medical marijuana to a person suffering from PTSD in the same way they do for Arizonans with other qualifying conditions, according to KJZZ. Currently, the law says that people suffering with PTSD must show proof that they’ve tried other medical options before seeking a medical marijuana card, which forces PTSD patients to spend extra time and money before they can actually qualify for medical marijuana.

The attorney for those supporting medical marijuana law reform for PTSD, Ken Sobel, said that the language in the 2010 initiative approved was misread.

Sobel said, “We believe that the men and women who fought for us in Afghanistan and Iraq and who returned home with these significant horrible injuries should not be required to do more than the other listed conditions.”