I'm so sorry that Vets are not included for PTSD in CO - the first real misstep that I've seen so far in CO's treatment mj use.

find their only relief in cannabis. MDA was used before and helped many, so of course that was taken away.

time. I also suffer from severe bi-polar disorder. What a fun freaking ride, NOT.

I hear you, RainDog, wanting help that actually works and being denied it is a shame on this country. Meds almost killed me, the doctors had me on so much with horrid side-effects, I'm actually the queen of side effects!

Now I just try to survive each day, and it's one hour at a time some days. I do smoke, if the chance arises, and it helps sooo much.

at least in the minds of the electorate in CO they will see these lawmakers Wholly responsible for the suffering of our Vets post this vote and hold them accountable at the ballot box.
I also hope they tell them NOW that this "f'd" up decision is gonna cost them their jobs--as well it should. They Deserve the Same treatment "they dished out" when they recalled those two lawmakers for their votes For reasonable gun safety regs.

The states that allow medical mj for vets (or others) with PTSD include: Connecticut, Delaware, Oregon, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan.

It's not just a matter of using mj anyway, even if it's not covered as an illness because doctor's monitor vets with drug tests and the use of mj would mean vets are denied other benefit and medications, even.

This is the third time veteran's advocates have tried to get PTSD included for medical mj in CO.

and it was horrible when those "powers at be" including the legislature here- told Veterans at public hearing, after public hearing that their horrible experiences of using prescribed meds - that often made things Worse; that these horrible drugs with horrible side effects was the best they could Hope for ever, even as our veterans reported great successes with cannabis.

BigPharma? I dunno--but at the fed level they've relaxed - there is NO logical reason (excuse really) to deny them safe and legal access to at least try it to see if it helps them.

Medical Cannabis needs to be considered as part of the greater health care debate going on--And covered under health care insurance for all and Certainly ought to be covered and considered the same as all other medicines by Vet Orgs in states, imo.

Send them over there to serve our country--they come back broken and our elected officials toss them under the corporate bus, imo.

For any use. Registering as a medical mj patient can easily be used against people now or later. I'm not sure why anyone in Colorado would bother with registering now...The lower medication cost isn't worth the risk imho.

But I'm hopeful that, however slowly, attitudes are changing - esp. when parents see how marijuana can help their children survive something like Dravet's epilepsy or the side effects of chemo.

Via Americans for Safe Access. The hearing was in Oct. 2012... it took NINE YEARS for the DEA to respond to the petition. When faced with a lawsuit for "unreasonable delay" the DEA denied the petition to reschedule based upon lack of medical proof - which they create by colluding with the NIDA to refuse studies that would indicate medical benefit. Law enforcement agencies should have no say in medical studies - but in the US, regarding marijuana - it's the DEA that is hurting people who could benefit from medical marijuana - especially veterans.

Is the VA now drug testing for benefits in CO, or did these Vets just become the only people over 21 in CO who can't use pot?

they can't do so via medical marijuana (which means they pay more).

More importantly, since CO does not recognize PTSD as a condition that falls under medical mj prescriptions, vets risk losing their medical treatment benefits from the VA.

For vets with injuries, etc., if they need opiods for treatment, they have to choose between marijuana and those opiods - or any other medicines.

Many vets have reported the use of mmj helps them to reduce the amt of opiods they use - and mmj helps to alleviate depression in some people - while opiods do not - and are also central nervous system depressants - which mj is not.

The VA piss tests - and people can be denied, say, heart medication if they use mj for PTSD. A few vets here have mentioned they cannot use mj or else they'll be denied other medication.

If vets test positive for mj, they can be forced into treatment programs and labeled as someone with a substance abuse problem, as well.

Krawitz, noted above, established residency in two states - VA, where he has lived for a long time, and Oregon, where his doctor can prescribe mmj. He has to deal with multiple doctors (he says 3) in order to not lose his access to VA health care.

Things have improved, actually, since 2011. Before that, vets could be denied health care if they tested positive for mj metabolites. Now, if a vet lives in a state that lists MEDICAL marijuana as treatment for PTSD, they cannot be denied other medicines via the VA.

eta - but other adults may also be prohibited from mj use if they work for a business that piss tests and mj is part of that test.

uproot the bureaucratic and political elites which erected this corrupt, hateful edifice.

This one was published before the VA changed its rules and allowed vets in states with mmj laws for PTSD to use it for their symptoms. Since this report, New Mexico has implemented mmj/ptsd law, where one-fourth of the state's then 1600 mmj patients were PTSD related.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126827410

...Paul Culkin of Rio Rancho, N.M., traces his PTSD back to 2004 when he was in Kosovo and part of an Army bomb squad. A car crashed into a business. The manager was inside trying to put out a fire. Culkin went in once to try to get him to leave, but he wouldn't go.

"The second time when I went in to get him out of there — that's when the car bomb exploded and the glass hit me," Culkin says.

..Culkin started avoiding social situations and was quick to anger. He says the treatment he's received from the VA — mostly counseling and antidepressant medication — has helped. But, he says, marijuana also works well to relieve his anxiety.

"He's a different person. He's a better person. He's more open. He's more communicative," (his wife) says. "At one point, we almost got a divorce, and I can honestly say that I think medical cannabis saved our marriage and our family."