Recent clinical trials conducted and supervised by Sue Sisley, a medical doctor and researcher based in Arizona, suggest that cannabis has potential as a treatment for veterans suffering from PTSD. Data from those clinical trials were submitted for publication this past December. Sisley and her colleagues are awaiting confirmation of a publication date.
Other studies, meanwhile, have found that marijuana and cannabidiol, a nonintoxicating extract from cannabis and hemp, have helped veterans and others with ailments including chronic pain, anxiety and insomnia.
But due to the federal government’s decades-long classification of cannabis as a so-called Schedule One drug, one that has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” U.S. scientists have been blocked from properly conducting research on cannabis. And due to its federal prohibition VA heath care providers are not allowed to recommend cannabis to veterans, or assist veterans in obtaining cannabis.
There have been efforts on Capitol Hill to close the gaps between cannabis laws and cultural attitudes on cannabis legalization, especially when it comes to the needs of veterans.
This past March the House Veterans Affairs Committee passed HR 712, known as the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2019. The measure would direct the VA to carry out clinical trials of the effects of cannabis regarding chronic pain, PTSD “and for other purposes.” The House VA Committee also passed HR 1647, known as the Veterans Equal Access Act of 2019, which would allow VA doctors and other health care providers “to provide recommendations and opinions to veterans regarding participation in State marijuana programs.”
Sisley notes, however, that the veterans she works with are exasperated by what they see as more political theater coming from Washington, rather than any real, concrete efforts to assist veterans. As a result, she says, more veterans are staying away from state-legal cannabis dispensaries and growing their own pot.
“They see bills like that come and go every session, and they never get out of committee or they always end up failing by a few votes,” she says. “I think the vets feel like these efforts are futile, and that’s why they’ve gone underground with their home grows and sharing community. Because they don’t have any hope that Congress is going to fix this, with all the gridlock there.”
Change is happening, albeit slowly, when it comes to veterans and cannabis.
The American Legion, which urged Congress to remove marijuana from its Schedule One classification, also has called on the DEA to allow privately funded medical marijuana producers to take part in “safe and efficient cannabis drug research development.”
Melissa Bryant, the Legion’s national legislative director, acknowledges that veterans are often cynical when it comes to the government, and that cynicism extends to cannabis reform. However, she says, if there’s a safe and effective use of cannabis that can be applied to the nation’s veterans, then it should be implemented by the VA.
“We have an evolving social paradigm within this country, in that people are looking toward alternative therapies,” she tells POLITICO, “especially with our looming mental health crisis, our looming opioid crisis. Society has changed. We’ve come around on recognizing that cannabis could be an effective means of alternative therapy and medication.”
“In the long run, the train is moving; there’s no stopping it,” says Alex, the Marine veteran. “They’re just trying to put up roadblocks, taking out amendments to make it look like they’re doing stuff. It’s all a dog and pony show, we know that. We’re not the first people fighting for veterans’ rights, not the first advocates fighting for cannabis. But we’ve come a long way in the last 10 years, and I believe in the next 10 we’ll come even farther.”
Source: politico.com
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