Before full legalization, the federal government has allocated money to researchers to begin testing marijuana for treating military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Far from a hypothetical move, the study parameters have already been approved by the Department of Health and Human Services as of March 2014. These proposed studies had been opposed by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, until last Wednesday when they finally signed off on the government supplying drug for clinical trials.
The United States government reports that 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans have experience PTSD. This is a significant rise from the 12% suffering from PTSD after the first Gulf War, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs.
To put that in perspective, 15% of Vietnam vets have been diagnosed as suffering with PTSD at one time or another.