Treating PTSD with Marijuana in Texas

What Is PTSD?

Witnessing or surviving a traumatic event (physical or emotional) may result in a health condition characterized by severe anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, stress, and other symptoms. Adapting to life after a shocking event is difficult and often necessitates assistance from professionals and emotional support as well as the use of drugs. PTSD is a dangerous condition since it may cause suicidal thoughts or overly aggressive behavior.

The condition is very often present (in various degrees of severity) in military veterans, survivors of childhood abuse, rape, bullying, and other traumatic events. The reasons for PTSD may be as recent as yesterday and as old as early childhood. Identifying and making a correct diagnosis is frequently hard since symptoms may correspond with a multitude of psychiatric disorders.

Anxiety, issues with sleep, panic attacks, and other symptoms that are usual in PTSD patients can be efficiently be dealt with using cannabis with lower concentrations of THC and increased concentrations of CBD. Note that these symptoms are often accompanying other disorders such as ADHD, various phobias, and many neurological disorders.

Usually, consulting a physician or a single therapist is not enough and extensive observations and testing are required to determine whether a person has PTSD. However, if symptoms are apparent, the treatment targeting them is usually most effective. Since September 2021, all people diagnosed with PTSD may use medical marijuana as a treatment for their symptoms.

We recommend you get a PTSD evaluation if you have any of the symptoms associated with the disease or if you have any suspicions that your life experiences could have triggered an onset of PTSD that your medical specialist may have missed.

About Marijuana in Texas

Texas remains the strictest state in terms of laws regulating cannabis use. Any use of marijuana is prohibited on the state level with only several exceptions. Nevertheless, even such small, incremental steps are helpful when it comes to treating diseases that do not have any other effective, all-natural remedies.

For a while, the only qualifying condition for using medical marijuana was epilepsy. In 2019, the list of such conditions was expanded adding ALS, various types of seizures, palliative care for terminal cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. In early 2021, the list was further expanded with all forms of cancer and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder aka PTSD.

The latter is a condition that is not only hard to identify and diagnose but also requires complex therapy with medical cannabis being the only all-natural effective remedy. In Texas, over 250 thousand troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from PTSD in one form or another.

Using Cannabis as a Natural Treatment for PTSD

In a study by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, it was reported that cannabis users suffering from PTSD were 2.5 times less likely to still have symptoms of PTSD after treatment and users reported noticeable decreases in the severity of PTSD symptoms. Self-managed dosing was recommended as patients could regulate how much cannabis they required to deal with the disorder. Various studies showed that side effects of cannabis use are less severe compared to medications used to treat anxiety or insomnia. Users reported improved mood, a better quality of life, and fewer episodes of panic attacks after they started using cannabis to treat symptoms of PTSD.

A study focused on physiological processes in PTSD patients was done by Wayne State University in Detroit. Scientists discovered that the amygdala response triggered by dangerous situations was less dramatic under the influence of moderate doses of THC. Another study by the Parana Federal University (Brazil) indicated that THC is capable of helping the mind to get rid of bad memories linked to PTSD reducing the symptoms triggered by the condition.

So it is possible to treat PTSD with medical marijuana as proven by a multitude of medical studies done by credible scientific institutions.

Get Your Medical Marijuana Card from a Doctor

Since 2021, patients suffering from PTSD are eligible for medical marijuana use as written in the text of Bill HB 1535 approved by the Texas Senate on June 15, 2021. It is now legal to treat PTSD using cannabis in Texas.

We strongly advocate for medical marijuana since it has fewer side effects compared to other medications, offers immediate effects, and allows users to self-regulate. To purchase cannabis products legally, we advise getting a medical marijuana card in Texas. It is a great way to receive your remedies without breaking the law and start the treatment as soon as possible.

Dispensary locations

Texas issued licenses to only three marijuana distributors: Fluent, Compassionate Cultivation, and GoodBlend. Only Compassionate Cultivation actually grows their marijuana within the state’s borders. Locations of officially licensed dispensaries are:

Texas Original: Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Manchaca (in store), San Antonio, Houston, El Paso.
GoodBlend: San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Austin.
Due to Covid restrictions and other factors, most of the locations are delivery only.