Colorado rejects Tourette’s syndrome for medical-pot treatment list

The State Board of Health rejected a petition Wednesday to add Tourette's syndrome to the list of conditions for which patients can obtain medical marijuana.

It was the first time in the 10-year history of Colorado's medical-marijuana law that a petition to add a new condition had made it through the state health department's review process and come before the board. The decision suggested that the board will require a high standard of proof before allowing new conditions to go on the list.

Board members expressed concerns over the health impacts of smoking marijuana, noted that there are other medications that could be used to treat Tourette's and concluded that the research wasn't evolved enough to show that marijuana would be useful in treating Tourette's.

"I don't see what we add to the mix by actually adding Tourette's under these circumstances," said Glenn Schlabs, the board's president.