Researchers hope to solve the lack of effective PTSD therapies with a drug that mimics the effects of medical marijuana.
NYU psychiatry professor Alexander Neumeister, PhD announced the start of the project at last week’s Canadian Depression Research and Intervention Network (CDRIN) Conference held in Ottawa.
“There has been no drug developed for PTSD specifically,” said Dr. Neumeister, adding that current anti-depressants are ineffective for most patients with the disorder.
In a study published last year, Dr. Neumeister and his team showed that patients with PTSD have abnormally low amounts of chemicals, called cannabinoids, in their brains.
“People with PTSD use marijuana at a very high rate”These chemicals are also present in marijuana, which may be why many with post-traumatic stress disorder turn to cannabis for relief.
Those who try marijuana say it helps with forgetting traumatic memories and overcoming problems with sleep.
“People with PTSD use marijuana at a very high rate,” said Dr. Neumeister. Experiments conducted in animals “showed that memory processes changed during exposure to marijuana,” he noted.
The three-year, multi-million dollar project is being funded by the United States Department of National Defence and the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. The aim is to develop a drug that provides similar benefits as marijuana but without the potential for addiction.
Two tests will be conducted initially, one to evaluate the drug’s safety and tolerability and another to ensure that it provides a sufficient boost of cannabinoids in patients.
Dr. Neumeister hopes the drug will be available to PTSD sufferers within the next decade.
“We are still at the beginning of the process,” he said. “I would think in an ideal world, the drug will be available to everybody in about six to eight years from now.”
Last month, a team at the University of Arizona received approval to launch the first study on smoked cannabis as a treatment for PTSD.