Mental Disorders And Mmj.

greenbuddha · December 21, 2011

Medical Marijuana for ADD? State Considers ItPosted by CN Staff on December 21, 2011 at 08:22:06 PT

By Vanessa Ho, SeattlePI.com Staff

Seattle WA -- State officials will consider a request to allow medical marijuana for people with ADD and OCD, nearly two years after denying the drug to depressed and bipolar patients.

The petition is the latest attempt to add a mental illness to Washington's list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis. Three other petitions, for depression and other mental health disorders, have been denied.

Passed by voters in 1998, Washington's law allows patients with terminal or debilitating conditions to use marijuana. Qualifying conditions include cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and "intractable pain." It also includes anorexia, as a disease that results in nausea, vomiting and wasting away.

The latest request involves an Edmonds man who petitioned authorities in September to include attention deficit disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder, conditions he said he has suffered from for years.

The man said he had seen a psychologist regularly with little relief. He said various medications -- stimulants, depressants, anti-psychotics, anti-depressants and anti-convulsants -- have not helped.

"At this point, my psychiatrist ... has recommended that I write a letter asking for an opinion on medical marijuana, as other options have been exhausted," the man wrote.

The Medical Quality Assurance Commission and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery will consider the man's petition at a hearing on Jan. 11.

"What they're looking for is some clinical and scientific basis for adopting it," Blake Maresh, the osteopathic board's executive director, said Tuesday.

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Complete Article: http://drugsense.org/url/DCRTpoUw

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)

Author: Vanessa Ho, SeattlePI.com Staff

Published: Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Contact: editpage@seattlepi.com

Website: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/

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