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July 12, 2023

Cannabis and Cannabinoids for Pain and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military Personnel and Veterans

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland
  • 2Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
  • 3Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland
JAMA Psychiatry. 2023;80(9):869-870. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.1685

Cannabis is now legal for medical use in at least 37 states and the District of Columbia (DC) and for recreational use in 21 states and DC.1 With the gradual expansion of legal access to cannabis over the past 2 decades, the prevalence of cannabis use has increased in both the general population and veterans.1 Although the reported use of cannabis within the past year among US military personnel remains low at less than 1%,2 this low rate is likely attributable to regulations that prohibit its use, with severe penalties (eg, administrative separation and potentially other-than-honorable discharge with reduced benefits) for military personnel.

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