most post-traumatic stress disorder4 suffers who are self medicating with cannabis are finding relief from the debillating symtons of post-traumatic stress disorder4.

www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/cannabinoids_and_fear.htm

It has been argued that the neuronal circuitry underlying fear conditioning has similarities to that responsible for fear-related clinical conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder4. Behavioural therapies for these conditions including systematic desensitization and imagery therapies share features with extinction. The finding that the endocannabinoids contribute to extinction raises the possibility that drugs that target these molecules and their receptors could be useful new treatments for anxiety disorders. Finally, there is much anecdotal evidence of patients using cannabis heavily in the early stages of psychiatric illness. This has often been thought to contribute to acute illness. But it seems possible that it may instead be a form of self-medication for the sometimes extreme anxiety that these people experience.

References:
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3. LeDoux, J. E. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 23, 155-184 (2000)
4. Davis, M. & Whalen, P. J. Mol. Psychiatry 6, 13-34 (2001)
5. Blair, H. T., Schafe, G. E., Bauer, E. P., Rodrigues, S. M. & LeDoux, J. E. Learn. Mem. 8, 229-242 (2001)
6. Walker, D. L. & Davis, M. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 71, 379-392 (2002)
7. Santini, E., Muller, R. U. & Quirk, G. J. J. Neurosci. 21, 9009-9017 (2001)
8. Herkenham, M. et al. J. Neurosci. 11, 563-583 (1991)
9. Wilson, R. I. & Nicoll, R. A. Science 296, 678-682 (2002)
10. Gerdeman, G. L., Ronesi, J. & Lovinger, D. M. Nature Neurosci. 5, 446-451 (2002)
11. Katona, I. et al. J. Neurosci. 21, 9506-9518 (2001)
12. McDonald, A. J. & Mascagni, F. Neuroscience 107, 641-652 (2001)
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