The Nation’s Second Oldest Medical Marijuana Program Still Leaves Many Veterans Without Medical Marijuana Cards
As an Oregonian, it has always saddened me that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not a standalone condition that qualifies a patient for a medical marijuana card. Oregon is the second oldest medical marijuana program in the nation, and in many ways the best, but in this regard my home state has dropped the ball. Medical marijuana opponents in Oregon will be quick to point out that most veterans qualify for the program in other ways, but I have always felt that if even ONE veteran is going without safe medicine when they would obviously benefit from having it, then that should be the end of the discussion.
I don’t want to take away from the ailments that other patient’s have, because suffering is suffering, and I believe anyone who is suffering is worthy of compassion. But I also feel there needs to be some extra credit given to those that have fought for our nation and are suffering. Any politician or medical marijuana opponent that wants to argue otherwise can feel free to e-mail me, although I don’t think I’ll expect anything in my inbox about it.
To deny PTSD sufferers, veterans especially, medical marijuana is to lack compassion on a level that I will never understand. I would like to see every politician in Oregon be forced to go on the record on this issue, and anyone that doesn’t support it gets put on Google and social media and let the public decide how they like it. I feel that too many Oregon politicians and special interests have been operating in the shadows and playing delay tactics on this issue for too long.
“If I get racing thoughts and real worked up, it can break a panic attack pretty quick,” Jared Townsend, a 27-year-old Iraq War veteran, told the The Oregonian. The same article went on to point out that ‘In New Mexico, which legalized medical marijuana in 2007, the state’s Department of Health said 40 percent of medical marijuana patients list PTSD as their qualifying condition, far more than any other condition.’
The Oregonian stated, “Jason Hansman, senior program manager for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said medical marijuana’s potential to help sick veterans deserves serious examination. ”We treat it like any other new treatment technique: We want to see it studied. We want to see increased research to see if it’s a viable solution,” said Hansman, whose group represents 145,000 veterans.”
Do you suffer from PTSD? How does cannabis help you? Are you in a medical marijuana program for a different condition, or are you left out in the dark? I look forward to hearing your stories.
