Department Of Health Services Hears Testimony From Medical Marijuana Patients

By Dennis Lambert
Published: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - 1:21pm

The Department of Health Services is hearing testimony from people who think medical marijuana should be legal for additional ailments.

Depression, migraine headaches and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are among the conditions people say should be covered by the medical marijuana law. Vitenam war veteran Gerald DeYoung suffers from PTSD.

"I’m standing here in pretty good shape today. I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs. I do my marijuana, and that keeps my sanity," DeYoung said.
 
Others say medical marijuana would be a better alternative than antidepressants like Oxycodone that can trigger suicidal thoughts in some patients. Jim Dyer, who describes himself as politically conservative and a medical marijuana patient, said people using antidepressants have committed suicide.

“I just haven’t seen is any reporting of somebody using marijuana and then committing suicide. Yeah, he got really stoned and then he shot himself. That doesn’t happen," Dyer said.

The state medical board will evaluate comments made at the hearing and make recommendations to the DHS director. He will then decide whether to expand use of medical marijuana in December.