Washington officials are poised to decide whether patients with depression or certain anxiety disorders should be allowed to use medical marijuana as part of their treatment.
State law limits the legal use of medical pot to patients who have been diagnosed with a “terminal or debilitating medical condition.” That includes people with cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis and several other diseases that cause pain or nausea which is “unrelieved by standard medical treatments and medications.”
But in July, a petition was submitted to the Medical Quality Assurance Commission, which is responsible for determining which conditions are approved for medical-marijuana use, asking that they add bipolar disorder, severe depression and anxiety-related disorders to that list.
The commission held a public hearing Wednesday in SeaTac to consider the petition – the first to come to a hearing in Washington in more than five years.
After hearing testimony from both sides, the panel of six people – three from the commission and three from the osteopathic board – will deliberate in a closed session before making its recommendation to both groups. The commission and the board are expected to issue a written order with their decision within the next few weeks. (Seattle Times)
