This Veterans\u2019 Day has occasioned a slew of media coverage for the efforts of military vets to secure cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress syndrome and other wounds of war. Some of the news shows fast-growing acceptance of use of medical marijuana by veterans. But there is much intransigence to be overcome \u2014 at both the state and federal level.<\/p>\n
Vietnam-era veteran Terry Moore last month returned to his native Indiana from neighboring Illinois to participate in hearings at the statehouse in Indianapolis on whether the Hoosier state should adopt a medical marijuana law. He now divides his time between his home state and Illinois to partake in the latter\u2019s medical marijuana program to treat his PTSD. Vets such as himself are \u201ccannabis refugees,\u201d he said in an interview with Indianapolis\u2019\u00a0CBS4<\/a>. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m in exile. I want to come home. I remember during Vietnam all the things about welcoming home veterans. I\u2019m not welcome home now and I gave my whole life to this state.\u201d<\/p>\n In Illinois, more than 3,400 veterans have been approved for a medical marijuana registry card, state officials told CBS4. Among those is Shay Westhoff, who was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge and Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan before a shattered neck forced him to retire after more than 15 years of service.<\/p>\n Westhoff said doctors prescribed him a cocktail of prescription drugs before he was finally approved for the state cannabis program. Today he works with the advocacy group\u00a0Operation 1620<\/a>, dedicated to promoting knowledge about use of cannabis and other natural medicines \u201cto reduce and eradicate veteran suicide and substance\/pharmaceutical dependence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as cannabis,\u201d Westhoff related to CBS4, \u201cmy kids are [saying] \u2018Wow my dad\u2019s back\u2019 because I\u2019m not taking the pills anymore. My marriage is starting to get back to where it was. I\u2019ve been married 15 years, and it\u2019s been a rocky nine years since I\u2019ve been home from Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n Also quoted was Indiana\u00a0State Rep. Jim Lucas, a Republican from the city of Seymour, who is among those pushing for a medical marijuana law in Indiana. \u201cTo me it\u2019s unconscionable Indiana is saying thank you for your service, but we\u2019re going to deny you,\u201d he said. \u201cNot only we\u2019re going to deny you something that has proven to work in other states, we\u2019re going to make you a criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s hardly surprising that one of the signs of mounting acceptance was reported from San Francisco, where cannabis dispensary\u00a0Bloom Room<\/a>, in the SoMa district, announced it is\u00a0offering<\/a>\u00a0eighth-ounces of its \u201clab-tested medical-grade cannabis\u201d for $1 to all veterans this Veterans Day.<\/p>\n A very telling\u00a0sign was the headline in a\u00a0Military Times<\/a>\u00a0round-up of Veterans Day discounts: \u201cTall ship cruises, cannabis, workouts, burgers and more.\u201d The story noted that\u00a0Eaze<\/a>, the California-based medical marijuana delivery service, is offering a 25 percent\u00a0discount<\/a>\u00a0on cannabis products for vets with proof of service.<\/p>\n \u201cHelping patients is a cornerstone of Eaze\u2019s mission,\u201d said Eaze CEO Jim Patterson in a\u00a0press statement<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cAs an Air Force veteran, I\u2019ve watched friends and colleagues struggle with war injuries and trauma. I strongly believe we should give vets and doctors as many options as possible to help them live their best lives.\u201d<\/p>\n The federal\u00a0Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> \u2014 still popularly known as the VA, although it hasn\u2019t been formally called the Veterans Administration since it was elevated to a cabinet-level post in 1989 \u2014 has only recently and tentatively\u00a0started to bend<\/a>\u00a0on the cannabis issue.<\/p>\n Under\u00a0current policy<\/a>, VA healthcare providers are prohibited from recommending that their patients use cannabis, or from helping their patients obtain cannabis treatments. However, under a policy change instated in 2010, veterans will not be denied treatment by the VA\u00a0if they participate in a state-legal medical marijuana program. Under this reform, vets are also free to discuss their cannabis use with their VA healthcare provider without fear of repercussion. There have been efforts \u2014 both through legislation and litigation \u2014 to allow VA physicians themselves to prescribe or recommend medical marijuana.<\/p>\n The main national organization pushing for this is the\u00a0Veterans Cannabis Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica\u2019s prolonged military conflicts over the past 17 years have exposed an aging and ineffective health care system, ill-prepared for the type and severity of the latest round of war-related injuries,\u201d their website states. \u201cUpwards of 20 percent of the 2.7 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will experience post-traumatic stress or depression, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)\u2026 Veterans are often placated with \u201ccocktails\u201d of prescription drugs, including powerful and addictive opiates. The current arrangement is not meeting veterans\u2019 healthcare needs. Medical cannabis is a proven, safe and common-sense personal health management option, free of the devastating side effects of opiate-based drugs\u2026 Medicinal cannabis is an incredibly effective tool for veterans challenged with managing the symptoms of their wounds.\u201d<\/p>\n A recent write-up in\u00a0Forbes<\/a>\u00a0noted efforts to pass the Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act on Capitol Hill, which would empower VA physicians to issue medical marijuana recommendations in states where it is legal. The bill, sponsored by senators Bill Nelson and Brian Schatz, would also make it legal for military vets to \u201cuse, possess, or transport medical marijuana\u201d in accordance with state laws. Finally, it would mandate that the VA take up a study on \u201cthe effects of medical marijuana on veterans in pain\u201d and the relationship between participation in state medical marijuana programs and any \u201creduction in opioid abuse among veterans.\u201d The bill would allocate $15 million for this research.<\/p>\n TELL US,<\/strong> do you think veterans should be able to access medical cannabis?<\/p>\n The post Growing Acceptance of Medical Cannabis for Veterans, But Many Still in \u2018Exile\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
This Veterans\u2019 Day has occasioned a slew of media coverage for the efforts of military vets to secure cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress syndrome and other wounds of war. Some of the news shows fast-growing acceptance of use of medical marijuana by veterans. But there is much intransigence to beContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,2893,1691,4413,81,151,210,4914],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30416"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30417,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30416\/revisions\/30417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Growing Normalization of Cannabis for Veterans<\/h4>\n
First Cracks in the Federal Intransigence<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Growing Acceptance of Medical Cannabis for Veterans, But Many Still in \u2018Exile\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"