The Myth from Marijuana Marketers - The false cure for PTSD and other ailments

by Wyoming Liberty Group

Once upon a time, there was a drug marketed as a cure-all for everything from depression to hay fever.

Can't sleep?

Have a headache?

Feeling nervous?

Take this drug! No, we're not talking about marijuana, though it is being touted as a wonder drug these days by dubious marketers. Rather, we're talking about cocaine—of all drugs—another dangerous substance.

Over a century ago, in the late 1800s, cocaine was being advertised as a cure-all for such ailments as a toothache. You could see the drug marketed in Sears Roebuck catalogues. Cocaine was even found in Coca Cola soft drinks.

Hard to believe, right?

Much of this long-ago past has been forgotten. But, to paraphrase a famous saying from a philosopher: Lest we remember our history, we are doomed to repeat it.

Pro-pot forces are banking on such forgetfulness, especially here in Wyoming, where they continue to try to break into the market and legalize the mind-altering drug. If you believe marijuana marketers, pot is a cure for such ailments as chronic pain, anxiety, depression and even PTSD—post traumatic stress disorder.

To put it plainly, it ain't true.

But the pot ploy is plain to see: Marijuana marketers are trying to pry open the door to Wyoming by playing on our sympathies. We, of course, all want people, including veterans, to receive treatment for PTSD. Just not with a destructive drug.

A recent study in the Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience put the lie to rest. The researchers noted, for instance, that marijuana, in its various forms, has been used to "diminish" epilepsy and chronic pain—even though the drug actually "contributed" to those very ailments.

The study cited various other conditions for which marijuana is being touted as a treatment, such as "asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, menstrual cramps," not to mention "Alzheimer disease, anxiety disorders and bipolar disorder."

As it turns out, marijuana actually makes things worse: "[T]here are indications that cannabis promotes cognitive disturbances, impairs neuronal plasticity and organization in the adolescent brain, promotes persistent functional brain changes, promotes abuse liability and, in highly vulnerable individuals, may exacerbate the course of schizophrenia."

What's more, the researchers put an end to the nonsense that marijuana is a treatment for PTSD, despite the smoke and mirrors around the myth, which is being peddled around Wyoming.

"The brain processes that govern the development and persistence of PTSD have yet to be identified fully, and most of what is known comes from preclinical animal studies (despite the problems inherent with animal models)," the researchers said.

In other words: Who knows?

The study uses clinical language to make a plain point about marijuana and its so-called medicinal effect: "As in the case of many other purported benefits of cannabis, much of the supportive evidence in humans has come from anecdotal or case reports as well as observational studies that provide little evidence of a causal connection."

The key words: "little evidence."

Even worse, the researchers said PTSD studies "were typically of low quality, and large-scale studies remain to be conducted evaluating the efficacy of cannabis use in the treatment of PTSD."

Could it be said more clearly?

If not, here's another study, Effects of Marijuana on Mental Health: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which states, "Mental health conditions figure prominently among the reasons given for medical marijuana use, yet there is a dearth of rigorous, experimentally controlled studies examining the effects of marijuana on mental health conditions."

The researchers noted that the marijuana plant is made up of over 500 substances, and "Only a fraction of these have been studied."

Why, then, would anyone put marijuana in their body when so little is known about what's in it?

That's especially the case for those who are suffering from PTSD, the researchers said: "There exists quite a bit of anecdotal and case-report evidence that smoking marijuana can reduce PTSD-related flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, and hyperarousal. However, very little high quality research evidence exists to demonstrate this. At this time, no reported randomized controlled trials have shown benefits of cannabis in PTSD, anxiety disorders, or depression."

A study of over 2,000 veterans being treated for PTSD found that the opposite is true—that "marijuana use was associated with greater PTSD symptom severity, more violent behavior, and more alcohol and drug use," the researchers said.

Another recent set of studies underscored the "lack of benefit" of marijuana for those who suffer from PTSD.

So, don't believe the hype from marijuana marketers in Wyoming or elsewhere. In the end, there is little room for interpretation when the Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense recommend that marijuana not be used to treat PTSD.