Cannabis and veterans groups have started a campaign that aims to mobilise veterans in an effort to persuade Republican lawmakers to adopt federal cannabis reform.
Last Prisoner Project, Balanced Veterans Network and the Veterans for Medical Cannabis Coalition announced a new initiative to help veterans fight to gain access to medical marijuana. They also want to bring attention to veterans who have been incarcerated because of marijuana.
“This partnership will identify the impact of cannabis laws on our service members, amplify their stories to key decision-makers—particularly Republican members of Congress—and advocate for legislation that ensures veterans and their health care providers have every option available to treat service-related trauma effectively,” the groups said in a press release.
The announcement briefly describes three veterans—Robert Deals, Deshawn Reilly and Kristofer Fetter—who are actively serving time in prison due to marijuana-related offenses.
Jason Ortiz said, “It’s an insult to veterans to put them behind bars for treating the trauma that they endured while fighting for our freedoms.” The partnership represents our efforts to secure their freedom. We urge everyone concerned about veterans to support us and put pressure on our lawmakers to allow all former cannabis prisoner to be released and for legislation that would no longer penalize those who used cannabis to heal the injuries they suffered while fighting for our country.
Terry Ikey is a board member at BVN. He said that veterans use cannabis to replace medications which are not effective in treating mental issues related to their service.
Ikey stated that “as the Veteran Suicide Rate continues to rise, we need to provide our Vets with any tools necessary in order for them to achieve balance and harmony in their life.” This starts with the ability to grow cannabis in their homes. Veteran patients could have a regular supply of their medicine if they were allowed to grow it themselves. They would not be forced to repeat the same trial-and-error process.
To that point, federally funded research published last month on the relationship between PTSD and cannabis use in veterans found that marijuana is associated with milder PTSD symptoms and reduced negative affect—the tendency to experience frequent or intense negative emotions.
Eric Jansen (government affairs coordinator for BVN) said that Congress has the ability to make changes to laws which harm our veterans. We have the capability to do the same if Congress does not. We are energized by our partnership to transform our members into a force that cannot be ignored. We plan to make sure that the many Congress members who say they are in support of our veterans actually do so.
Veteran veterans who want to support the campaign by sharing their stories of medical marijuana and criminal justice are invited to complete an online form.
Last month the Senate approved a massive spending bill that allows doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs of America (VA) to recommend medical cannabis to military veterans in states with legalized marijuana.
In past years, both the House and Senate have included provisions in their respective MilConVA measures that would permit VA doctors to make the medical cannabis recommendations, but they have never been enacted into law.
Due to this, both chambers have adopted their own language. This will again be discussed in the informal or conference committee between the two houses. It could, therefore, end up missing from the package that is sent this time to the president.
Meanwhile, a GOP senator said last month he’s “confident” that, under the Trump administration, lawmakers will help secure alternative treatment options for veterans—including access to psychedelic medicine, as multiple veterans have personally requested from him after disclosing they’ve travelled abroad for the novel therapy.
Side Pocket Images. Photo by Chris Wallis.