Colorado PTSD Decision Disappointing for Dispensaries

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Colorado dispensaries won’t be allowed to sell medical marijuana to patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after a state board rejected a proposal to add the aliment to the list of qualifying conditions for MMJ cards.

The decision is disappointing for businesses that focus only on medical marijuana, as the addition of PTSD could have helped boost their patient base.

Medical marijuana users pay considerably less in taxes than consumers of recreational cannabis in Colorado, so some patients with PTSD who are buying from rec shops now might have switched to dispensaries if they could get MMJ cards for their specific ailment. Additionally, some cities have banned recreational marijuana, so patients with PTSD have to drive far to visit rec shops.

But it likely wouldn’t have had a dramatic impact, as many PTSD patients already have medical marijuana cards currently for chronic pain.

The vote against adding the affliction highlights the lack of scientific studies into the effects of marijuana as medication. At least two board members voted no due to the lack of science supporting claims that cannabis helps those with PTSD.