VA And Defense Department Oppose Medical Marijuana For PTSD, But Take Neutral Position On Psychedelics As Research Continues

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DOD) are strongly against the use of marijuana for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—but they’re taking a neutral position on psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD, simply saying that more research should be done.

In an update to their joint clinical practice guidelines, the departments provided recommendations on a variety of therapeutics used to treat PTSD and acute stress disorder that commonly afflict military veterans. And while many veterans use marijuana, often to treat symptoms of the conditions, the VA/DOD Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder Work Group said it is fully against the alternative treatment option.

“The Work Group recommends against the use of cannabis or cannabis derivatives in treating patients with PTSD because of the lack of well-designed [randomized control trials] evaluating the efficacy of cannabis derivatives in large samples of individuals with PTSD and the serious side effects associated with their use,” it says.

“Evidence from the 2017 VA/DoD PTSD [clinical practice guidelines] indicates significant harm associated with cannabis use,” it said, arguing that research suggests that marijuana is linked to issues with attention, memory, IQ and driving.

While medical marijuana came with a “strong against” recommendation from the departments, they said that the work group’s confidence in the existing evidence is “very low” due to a “lack of randomized, controlled, methodologically sound clinical trials; small sample sizes, and selection bias.”

“The benefits of cannabis were outweighed by the potential serious adverse effects,” the document, published last month, says. “Patient values and preferences varied largely because some patients seek new, novel treatments although others might be unwilling to use cannabis or cannabis derivatives. Thus, the Work Group made the following recommendation: We recommend against cannabis or cannabis derivatives for the treatment of PTSD.”

Keep reading