--- title: Colorado Health Board votes "No" on Treating PTSD with Marijuana description: Colorado health officials rejected a proposal by medical marijuana advocates to make cannabis an approved treatment for PTSD canonical: https://time.com/3960940/colorado-ptsd-marijuana/ author: Eliza Gray article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-16T16:42:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:33.121Z article:section: Health og:title: Colorado Health Board Votes 'No' on Treating PTSD With Marijuana og:description: Nine states allow medical marijuana use for PTSD og:url: https://time.com/3960940/colorado-ptsd-marijuana/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteec533ce1920e2c1/69885b2d524fc00b70df397e/colorado-marijuana1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: DENVER MARIJUANA TOUR HOSTED BY MY 420 TOURS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Colorado Health Board Votes 'No' on Treating PTSD With Marijuana twitter:description: Nine states allow medical marijuana use for PTSD twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteec533ce1920e2c1/69885b2d524fc00b70df397e/colorado-marijuana1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Colorado Health Board Votes 'No' on Treating PTSD With Marijuana > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids [Watch (HLS stream): Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6Ic4KUCK.m3u8) (16:16)  _Published 2014-10-21. The story of a family's illegal cross-country drive to transport marijuana oil for their epileptic 3-year-old daughter. A look inside the quasi-legal, science free world of medical marijuana for children from TIME's Red Border Films_ by [Eliza Gray](https://time.com/author/eliza-gray/) ## Eliza Gray Jul 16, 2015 4:42 PM UTC  La Conte's grow facility is seen during a marijuana tour hosted by My 420 Tours in Denver, CO on December 06, 2014. La Conte's grow facility is seen during a marijuana tour hosted by My 420 Tours in Denver, CO on December 06, 2014. Craig F. Walker—Denver Post/Getty Images by [Eliza Gray](https://time.com/author/eliza-gray/) ## Eliza Gray Jul 16, 2015 4:42 PM UTC Colorado health officials rejected a proposal by medical marijuana advocates to make cannabis an approved treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, against the recommendation of the state’s chief medical officer. It is the third time that Colorado’s health board has decided against approving cannabis for PTSD treatment, according to [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/16/us-usa-colorado-marijuana-idUSKCN0PQ0CC20150716). Nine states allow cannabis to be prescribed for PTSD. Colorado’s approved list of uses for marijuana include muscle spasms, epilepsy, cancer, severe nausea and glaucoma. After hearing testimony from veterans hoping to access the drug, most of the board’s members said they could not support it because there is not enough scientific evidence that marijuana can help with PTSD and anecdotal evidence is not enough, according to [_The Denver Post_](http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci%5F28487952/colorado-board-votes-no-allowing-medical-pot-ptsd). “I’m struggling with the science piece,” board member Dr. Christopher Stanley said. But supporters of the proposal say that patients’ desires should be included in the calculus, rather than focusing only on hard science. “It is very important patients become part of this discussion,” said Teri Robnett, director of the Cannabis Patients Alliance and member of the state’s advisory council, according to _The Denver Post_. “Patients are getting enormous relief.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3960940/colorado-ptsd-marijuana/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3960940/colorado-ptsd-marijuana/"},"headline":"Colorado Health Board Votes 'No' on Treating PTSD With Marijuana","datePublished":"2015-07-16T16:42:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:33.121Z","description":"Nine states allow medical marijuana use for PTSD","url":"https://time.com/3960940/colorado-ptsd-marijuana/","keywords":["Marijuana"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteec533ce1920e2c1/69885b2d524fc00b70df397e/colorado-marijuana1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Gray","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-gray/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteec533ce1920e2c1/69885b2d524fc00b70df397e/colorado-marijuana1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DENVER MARIJUANA TOUR HOSTED BY MY 420 TOURS","caption":"DENVER MARIJUANA TOUR HOSTED BY MY 420 TOURS","creditText":"Craig F. 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