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Federal laws hindering proper research on medical marijuana
are hurting those who served
Agitation. Irritability. Guilt. Flashbacks. Insomnia. Severe
anxiety. Social isolation.
Consider for a moment what your life would be like if you
suffered every day with just these symptoms.
It’s barely a taste of what veterans with post traumatic stress
disorder endure.
Politically, one of the biggest rallying cries for all
parties is “help our veterans” yet in many ways, our systems for veterans
affairs — especially when it comes to dealing with their health care — fall
woefully short. This is due to the combination of a lack of funding, a lack of
resources and sometimes, just a lack of effort by the powers that be in
Washington to move the dial forward on getting our service members the proper
care they deserve and, quite frankly, have earned.
The Department of Veterans Affairs says it will not
conduct research into whether medical marijuana could help veterans suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain, as veterans groups are
pushing for the use of the drug as an alternative to opioids and
anti-depressants.
"Don't ask, don't tell" is how many veterans
have approached health care conversations about marijuana use with the doctors
they see from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In October, the Democratic members of the House Veterans
Affairs Committee wrote a letter asking VA secretary David Shulkin why his
department is not conducting research into medical marijuana.
In the letter, ranking member Tim Walz (Minn.) and the other
nine Democratic committee members note that in many states that have medical
marijuana programs, cannabis is recommended for PTSD and/or chronic pain —
conditions that afflict many of our wounded warriors. The members do not ask
Mr. Shulkin to start dispensing medical marijuana from VA facilities. Instead,
they ask the secretary why the department is not conducting rigorous research.
WASHINGTON -- Despite pleas from congressmen, veterans and
the country's largest veterans service organization asking for research into
medical marijuana, the Department of Veterans Affairs won't initiate a
study into the drug's effects on post-traumatic stress disorder,
VA Secretary David Shulkin wrote in a letter to House Democrats.
The letter, dated Dec. 21 and publicly released Tuesday,
was written in response to a request in October from Democrats on the House
Committee on Veterans' Affairs for the VA to initiate research into the
efficacy of medical cannabis. In their request, the Democrats cited the
country's opioid crisis and the growing demand from veterans and major service
groups that want cannabis available as a treatment option for chronic pain and
PTSD.
