The Oregon house yesterday gave approval to a bill that would allow people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to legally access medical cannabis. The bill has already received approval from the state Senate.
The bill now heads to the governor for signing.
The change is a huge move for veterans in the state, many of whom deal with varying degrees of PTSD after returning from service. According to the state of Oregon, there are roughly 243,800 combat veterans living in the state. More than 100,000 served in either the Persian Gulf or Irag and Afghanistan.
Cannabis has proven (at least, anecdotally) to greatly help vets dealing with the mental scars of war. But as we’ve pointed out in the past, the Veterans Administration still refuses to acknowledge it as a valid form of therapy.
But PTSD doesn’t necissarily only happen to soldiers either, and the bill makes it possible for anyone suffering from the severe anxiety of PTSD to try cannabis as an alternative treatment.
If signed by the governor, Oregon would join New Mexico as one of the few states that allows doctors to recommend medical marijuana to patients with PTSD.