New Jersey Vets Can Now Use Marijuana To Treat PTSD

Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey signed a bill that will allow military veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to use medical marijuana.

Christie, who once opposed medical marijuana, said he changed his mind after learning that more than 20 percent of veterans returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with “debilitating” illness, reported NJ.com. And medical marijuana is a treatment that many veterans prefer over pharmaceutical drugs.

However, there are restrictions to the bill.

“This bill would provide struggling veterans and others with the ability to use medical marijuana to treat PTSD, but only after it has been determined by a physician or psychiatrist that conventional medical therapy is ineffective,’ Christie said, according to NorthJersey.com

Christie said the stipulation that other medications be tried is to prevent “misuse.”

“The mere potential of abuse by some should not deter the state from taking action that may ease the daily struggles of veterans and others who legitimately suffer from PTSD,” Christie said, according to NJ.com.

“Veterans – especially post-9/11 veterans – are the group most affected by PTSD,” said New Jersey Democratic Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo, according to NJ.com. “The VA has stated that it wants each veteran to find the medication with the least amount of side effects that allows them the optimum level of independence. For many, medical marijuana is the drug that best fits that criteria and the only one to provide veterans with significant relief from the anxiety associated with PTSD.”

“I’m just overjoyed,” said Don Karpowich, a 57-year-old Air Force veteran diagnosed with PTSD who has dealt with alcohol and prescription drug addiction, reported NorthJersey.com.

The bill allows medical marijuana to be used to treat other conditions, including epilepsy, cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, any terminal illness with a prognosis of less than a year, according to NJ.com.

Sources: NorthJersey.com, NJ.com/ Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr