Mental Health Issues May Qualify for Medical Marijuana Treatment

Editor’s note: This commentary is provided by the Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative (MMERI) of Florida A&M University.

Are mental health issues treatable with medical marijuana? That all depends on the issue.

Under Florida’s medical marijuana law, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a qualifying condition for treatment as recommended by a qualified medical marijuana physician. But the law gives doctors some flexibility on treating ailments “of the same kind or class as or comparable to the others listed.” So, people struggling with, say, chronic bouts of anxiety, depression, or insomnia — symptoms of PTSD — may be eligible to receive a Medical Marijuana Use Registry identification card.

“There's no one pharmacological agent or medication that has been deemed the gold standard treatment of PTSD because PTSD is just a combination of so many different symptoms,” explains Dr. Delvena Thomas, a board-certified psychiatrist and neurologist. Her private practice in Fort Lauderdale focuses on psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and alternative health, which includes CBD products and medicinal cannabis certifications.

But, she adds, “medicinal cannabis has proven effective in treating PTSD, a very specific type of anxiety. We classify it as an anxiety disorder, it's very specific. Patients do well with medicinal cannabis in treating their PTSD.”

A lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, Dr. Thomas has served on three combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, giving her a unique perspective of the invisible wounds war inflicts on the mental health of returning veterans. PTSD, however, can affect all kinds of people who have been exposed to traumatic situations, even “vicariously just from seeing things on television and hearing about traumatic things; 9/11 is a good example,” she says.

She and Dr. Alexys Hillman, who practices osteopathic medicine and is a qualified medical marijuana physician in Pensacola, agree that mental health problems may arise during holiday seasons, like the one many Americans just observed. What should be an occasion for joyous celebrations among family and friends may instead trigger feelings of loneliness and suicidal thoughts, they say.

Regardless of the cause of a mental health issue, the doctors strongly advise against self-medicating, including using illegal marijuana or alcohol. For someone who is being treated with medical cannabis to help alleviate PTSD-like symptoms, they also warn against drinking alcohol or taking prescription opioids at the same time.

Visit https://bit.ly/Cannabis_MentalHealth to watch MMERI’s Conversations on Cannabis Virtual Forum featuring Dr.Delvena Thomas, a board-certified psychiatrist and neurologist & Dr. Alexys Hillman, qualified medical marijuana physician discussing the pros and cons of using cannabis as a mental health treatment.