New York veterans push for medical marijuana to treat PTSD

Bob Becker still has his reservations about marijuana usage.

But when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition many of his fellow veterans live with, his views on medical marijuana have shifted.

"I have some of my friends that deal with (PTSD)," said Becker, the legislative director of the state Council of Veterans Organizations. "... I talk to veterans all over. They tell me that they're smoking a little marijuana ... they're smoking and said, 'I feel better.'"

The Council of Veterans Organizations has lined up behind a proposal in the state Legislature that would add PTSD to the list of qualifying conditions for patients in the state's tightly regulated medical marijuana program. The bill has passed the Assembly and awaits Senate approval.

Currently, there are 11 conditions, ranging from cancer to chronic pain, that patients must have in order to be certified by a doctor for the medical marijuana program. Medications are available in non-smokeable forms, such as oils.

Under the PTSD legislation — sponsored by Sen. Diane Savino, a Staten Island Democrat who was behind the Compassionate Care Act — that condition would simply be added to the list of those treatable through use of medical marijuana.

State Department of Health spokeswoman Jill Montag said the DOH is monitoring the bill closely but that the department doesn't comment on pending legislation.

Asked earlier this week about the progress of the bill, Savino said work continues.

PTSD — a condition not limited to the veteran population — was treatable with medical marijuana in at least 23 states as of last year, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Among the state's that have approved it is New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie in signing legislation last year explicitly noted PTSD's prevalence among veterans.

Yet there are still New York lawmakers who are unconvinced of medical marijuana's efficacy for treating PTSD.

"It would be I think premature to explore alternative treatment options that might cause damage if the diagnosis was wrong," said Republican Sen. Tom Croci, a former Navy commander, current reservist and chair of the Senate Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee. "A veteran may think they have post-traumatic stress disorder, but maybe they have a traumatic brain injury. We don't know."

Croci said he is open to alternative therapies and supports abstinence-based treatment approaches, such as hyperbaric oxygen and equine therapies, which he believes are best for veterans in the long term

"I am open to hearing more information about cannabinoid products and the treatment of post-traumatic stress, but I have not seen to date enough data or studies to make a determination one way or the other," he said.

Savino's bill sponsor's memo notes that research is limited because marijuana remains federally illegal. But it does point to a 2014 study in New Mexico that looked at 80 patients who reported a more than 75 percent reduction in PTSD symptoms while using cannabis.