DEA gives approval to Colorado-funded study on marijuana and PTSD

Researchers expert to begin enrolling patients in May at clinics in Baltimore and Phoenix

By John Ingold

A groundbreaking, Colorado-funded study looking at whether cannabis can treat post-traumatic stress disorder in military veterans has received the final go-ahead from federal authorities.

Study leaders announced the approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration this week. It is the first time that agency has given permission to use raw marijuana in a placebo-controlled clinical trial on PTSD. Researchers in three states worked for the better part of a decade to win the approval.

"We are thrilled to see this study overcome the hurdles of approval so we can begin gathering the data," Amy Emerson, the executive director of study-backer MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, said in a statement.

The project is one of nine medical marijuana studies funded by historic grants from Colorado's Health Department. Researchers plan to begin enrolling patients in the next month at study sites in Phoenix and Baltimore. Blood samples from the study will be analyzed at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a professor at CU's Anschutz Medical Campus will oversee the research's scientific integrity.

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