PTSD & Cannabis: Help or Hurt

Cannabis is one of the most widely used substances around the world. As governments begin to decriminalize and legalize the usage of this substance for recreational and medicinal purposes there are many grey areas and unchartered territories when it comes to this substance. Furthermore, as Cannabis begins to be used for the treatment of many illness’s such as Cancer, it was inevitable that Cannabis is also being used to treat mental health issues. The focus of the video is to determine if there is any link between Cannabis usage and symptom reduction in individuals suffering from PTSD. We will only be using science backed evidence for the evaluations of these claims as we aim to draw conclusions.

This video was created by McMaster Demystifying Medicine Students Kunwar Karim, Sajid Wariach and Kashif Daud.

Copyright McMaster University, 2020

References
Content
LaFrance, E. (2020). Short and Long-Term Effects of Cannabis on Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 274, 298–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.05.132
Pacella, M. L., Hruska, B., & Delahanty, D. L. (2013). The physical health consequences of PTSD and PTSD symptoms: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 27(1), 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.08.004
Volkow, N. D., Baler, R. D., Compton, W. M., & Weiss, S. R. B. (2014). Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(23), 2219–2227. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmra1402309
Wilkinson, S. T., Stefanovics, E., & Rosenheck, R. A. (2015). Marijuana Use is Associated with Worse Outcomes in Symptom Severity and Violent Behavior in Patients with PTSD. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 76(9), 1174–1180. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.14m09475
Video Clips
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