Delaware post-traumatic stress disorder patients now have easier access to the state’s medical cannabis program after Gov. John Carney signed the Bravery Bill into law last week, radio news station WDEL reports. The new law allows patients with PTSD to get medical cannabis certification from any properly licensed physician rather than only being able to receive approval from a licensed psychiatrist.
In a 105.9 FM News Talk report, Carney called the legislation a “common sense and compassionate amendment” to the state’s medical cannabis law.
The bill was championed in the Senate by Majority Leader Margaret Rose Henry, who worked with Air Force veteran Kim Petters, who served the military for a decade. She was forced to wait eight months before being granted access to the program.
Petters, president of the Women’s Veterans Collective, said the measure allows PTSD patients additional options to pharmaceuticals “which can be dangerous and addictive.”
“The veteran community continues to experience staggering suicide rates that far outnumber the amount of troops we lose in actual combat,” she said in the report. “The veteran accidental overdose rates alone more than double the national average. And when you take a look at the veteran homeless community you’ll find at least 70 percent of homeless vets report substance abuse, most of which began with pharmaceuticals or alcohol.”
Petters told 105.9 FM that cannabis helped her replace all of the medication she was taking for insomnia, anxiety, and depression.