Page 162 - Total War on PTSD

“zombie drugs,” including opioids and antidepressants, that they said adversely affected their mood and personality, up to and including thoughts of suicide.” The Legion also asked Congress to remove the drug from the list of Schedule 1 narcotics — a class that includes heroin, LSD and other drugs that have “no accepted medical use” and a high potential for abuse – and reclassify it in a lower schedule.
In November of 2017 the American Legion published a phone survey of over 800 Veterans and Veteran caregivers in which 92% of respondents said they supported medical Cannabis research for the purpose of treating mental or physical conditions. As a comparison, a Quinnipiac University poll released in April of 2018 found that a record 94% of all Americans supported doctor-prescribed medical Marijuana usage. According to Nick Etten and the current U.S. Attorney General, Jefferson Sessions, “Is putting politics, antiquated policies and his own personal opinion ahead of the health needs of Veterans in this country.” Representative Matt Gaetz, along with Darren Soto, co-authored a bill that would bump the drug down to Schedule 3 – the same classification as codeine and steroids. According to Gaetz, “I think my political party became too committed to this antiquated dogma of the ’70s and ’80s. Now we’re having to pull the Ostrich’s head out of the sand.”
Arizona Psychiatrist Dr. Suzanne Sisley, when asked why Marijuana is better than other options, said, “I think the most intriguing thing is that a single plant can provide monotherapy for this whole constellation of symptoms.” “A federally approved clinical trial of Marijuana as a PTSD treatment for Veterans is now underway in Phoenix, and results from the current phase could be ready to submit for publication in a couple of years. There is a unique neural pathway between all of those structures that deals with fear and memory. The thinking is there may be
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