Attention VA: Veterans in Crisis Need Cannabis Therapy

Veterans shouldn't have to come home and fight for their rights after fighting to defend ours. Learning about yet another veteran suicide at the Phoenix VA underscores the urgent need for policy reform to allow veterans the freedom to access the healing power of cannabis. Under current policy, Veterans who could benefit most from its therapeutic healing power would risk losing their VA medical benefits if caught with cannabis in their system. A number of doctors, researchers and advocacy groups have made concerted efforts to convince the VA to end its “conventional-treatment-or-no-treatment” policy. Even the most compelling testimony from veterans about ways in which cannabis saves lives has been met with resistance. The Phoenix VA is one of the most staunch opponents and policy makers have gone out of their way to block research that would provide the institution with evidence that cannabis therapy is far safer and more effective than the most commonly prescribed drugs that often do more harm than good. After sacrificing so much to protect our freedom, it is simply unacceptable that veterans are denied the freedom to choose whatever medicine helps them without sacrificing benefits they’re entitled to receive. After receiving an article written by NORML-AZ director Mikel Weiser sent by SWCC, we felt compelled to do something and called upon a number of industry peers, advocacy groups and volunteers to stage a rally in support of veterans rights on Veterans Day right in Phoenix. In this episode, we interviewed two veterans who have been refused care with dignity from the Phoenix VA, and a PTSD physician who knows why the VA policy needs to change.