I would so rather everyone with PTSD had access to proper trauma therapy so we weren't relying on any substance to deal with the heightened state of physical arousal that comes with this. EMDR has great results. I'm waiting for a space to train in this approach after seeing some amazing results for people I have referred on and hearing stories that describe moments where (to paraphrase one friend) 'something clicked in my brain and I felt myself relax around this memory, like I feel safe all of a sudden.' Part of what maintains PTSD is habitual avoidance of trauma reminders, so any substance that aides that experiential avoidance is probably also inadvertently maintaining the PTSD response. That said, you gotta be pragmatic and if things are overwhelmingly intense then we aren't going to be able or willing to contact that stuff yet, so chemical tools can be useful there, if used sparingly. I would predict that cannabis will be shown to be a much less harmful sleep aide and anxiolytic than the pharmaceutical options most often prescribed.
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