Veterans Need Safe Access To Medical Cannabis

After all the work Rep. Blumenauer and Senator Merkley did to give veterans safe access to medical cannabis in the latest funding bill for the Veteran’s Administration, that section was stripped from the bill and when it finally passed Congress, it was still not in there. Instead of VA doctors being allowed to sign off on medicinal cannabis paperwork, veterans will continue to do what the rest of us do when our doctors won’t sign the damn paperwork. We go to a clinic that specializes in cannabis applications. I pay nearly $200 to see a doctor at a local clinic because my doctor won’t sign mine either. Then, it’s another $2oo to the state for the card itself which took almost three months to get this time around. My disabled veteran husband could get a card for a reduced rate as could other disabled veterans in the state, but no. Congress had to be assholes again and continued to prevent VA doctors from prescribing cannabis to veterans.

I wonder. Do any of them experience PTSD? Do any of them experience pain? Have any of them had cancer? Have any of them had autoimmune conditions? Have any of them had diabetes? What about Crohns? Or Parkinson’s? Anything?

Within three months of consuming cannabis infused coconut oil, cannabis infused glycerin (tincture), raw cannabis in smoothies, and smoking/vaping, my severe rheumatoid arthritis was in clinical remission. After thirteen years of excruciating pain, inflammation and endless swelling, I was finally regaining control over my life. I was so ill that I believed I wouldn’t survive. And after my doctor gave up on me telling me that he had done all he could and that all we could hope for is to try to make me as comfortable as possible (without considering cannabis of course), I began making medicine. He never told me I was in clinical remission. I had to discover that by getting my records for the cannabis clinic.

Cannabis can help anyone who uses it. It’s not addictive irrespective of what anyone else says. It’s safe and effective and our bodies are set up with an endocannabinoid system with receptors ready and waiting to interact with the cannabinoids in cannabis. It’s just part of our design as humans. For the government to lie about this plant is shameful. And given all that we now know about it, to continue this sham is beyond the pale.

The VA negotiated lower drug prices. Kudos for that. But as my husband knows first hand, as acceptable levels for blood testing were lowered, more drugs are prescribed, so where again is the savings? Cannabis can reduce prescription use by veterans, particularly where pain and depression are concerned. Why on earth wouldn’t the federal government leap on such a find? But no. Instead, they’re either living in the past, believing the propaganda and hype, or they’re getting ready to hand it off to Big Pharma.

Either way, veterans were, once again, left hanging by their government. And thank you to everyone who worked on this, particularly Jeff and Earl. You guys have really been there and I know veterans like my husband appreciate everything you do. And I know you won’t give up until everything is made right for those we depend on and who defended us with all that they had.

One day I hope to write a post shouting to the rafters that our cannabis nightmare is over. That our government finally pulled its head out of its ass and told everyone the truth. Cannabis is safe and effective to use as medicine for a myriad of conditions. It’s also safe for recreational use, far more than alcohol has ever been. And it’s safe to give children, and it doesn’t have to be in CBD form only for that to be true, when in fact, it’s the whole plant that we need.

And I hope that when I write that post, I’m also able to say that we favored decriminalization over legalization. As we’ve discovered in Oregon, voting to legalize doesn’t necessarily make it so everywhere in the state, even though that’s what we all voted for. Here in Oregon, we’ve learned that our vote matters not, particularly where cannabis is concerned.

Had we simply decriminalized and said grow whatever you want but if you sell it then you’ve entered another area that we’ll regulate in the same manner as we regulate food, I think we’d be much better off. Dispensaries would be for patients and recreational outlets would be for everyone else. As it stands now, recreational outlets aren’t ready and dispensaries for patients are being used for that purpose. And for patients, that blows.

And to think all of this nonsense began with a lie to make other people rich.

Blessed Be