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---
description: Colorado health officials rejected a proposal by medical marijuana advocates to make cannabis an approved treatment for PTSD
title: Colorado Health Board Votes &#x27;No&#x27; on Treating PTSD With Marijuana
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteec533ce1920e2c1/69885b2d524fc00b70df397e/colorado-marijuana1.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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# Colorado Health Board Votes 'No' on Treating PTSD With Marijuana


by 

[Eliza Gray](/author/eliza-gray/)


## Eliza Gray


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Jul 16, 2015 4:42 PM CUT

![DENVER MARIJUANA TOUR HOSTED BY MY 420 TOURS](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteec533ce1920e2c1/69885b2d524fc00b70df397e/colorado-marijuana1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

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](/author/eliza-gray/)


## Eliza Gray


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Jul 16, 2015 4:42 PM CUT

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 "undefined"). 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 "undefined"). “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.”

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