Minnesotans with PTSD Are Eager for Medical Marijuana Law Update

A Minnesota family is counting down the days to August 1, when their daughter will have access to medical marijuana for PTSD. Since applications were opened up to those with PTSD, 16 patients have registered with PTSD as their qualifying condition.

One person, however, has been approved, according to CBS Local Minnesota. Teenage foster children in one family sometimes suffer violent/emotional outbursts. This stems from their years in the foster system. Both have PTSD.

Heather Tidd, adoptive mother to the teens, said, “It affects every part of your life, it affects every part of our family and our community.”

TJ, one of the teens, said, “I would rage, break my walls, yell, scream.”

Heather said, “We couldn’t go out to a park because if he heard a child laughing, he would think they were laughing at him, get mad and he would rage and he would try to hurt them. Both of our children have been in residential treatment centers, they’ve each been gone for six months at a time.”

Prescription medications, and their side effects, just weren’t working for the teens.

TJ also has Tourette’s syndrome, so he has been a medical marijuana patient for some time now. While treating this condition, the parents found that medical marijuana was calming his PTSD symptoms too. TJ uses either tincture or spray medical marijuana to treat his symptoms.

Heather said, “Overnight life changed completely. I mean, we went from he was raging every day to he’s raged about 15 times in the last two years.”

TJ says his medical marijuana has helped him become more confident while in school or playing sports. He says he’s also more calm around his family.

He said, “Thinking that I can like do stuff on my own, like I don’t’ need someone always watching me.”

Heather is hoping that medical marijuana will help their other foster teen, Amber, when they get access in a few weeks.

Regarding Amber, Heather said, “She just has a wall up. So you can’t really develop any relationship there. We’re hopeful that she’ll be able to come off of ADHD meds and anxiety meds (as well).”

Heather works with Sensible Minnesota and is hoping that other parents can find help for their children with PTSD through medical marijuana.

She said, “Then all these kids coming out of the (foster care) system that have had abuse their in their birth home or in foster care or just the trauma of changing homes so often, all of that adds up.”