Group says it has enough signatures to get medical marijuana on Florida ballot
Tampa Bay Times
Stephen Nohlgren, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
The people pushing for medical marijuana have all but shut down their petition campaign, saying they have collected enough signatures to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
United for Care, headed by Orlando lawyer John Morgan, announced Wednesday that it had collected more than 1.1 million signatures and had stopped paying people to gather more, except for a few more days in one county.
Elections officials — who typically reject a few hundred thousand signatures — are still processing the latest petition batches to see whether United for Care has indeed delivered the minimum 683,149 valid signatures the law requires.
But Ben Pollara, United for Care's campaign manager, declared victory Wednesday night on the organization's website.
"This is an enormous achievement,'' Pollara said. "Literally thousands of volunteers contributed their time, collecting petitions in the rain and heat, on their weekends and holidays.''
read more here
Reminder of what a tough fight this was
Showing posts with label medical marijuana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical marijuana. Show all posts
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
First pot purchaser in Colorado, Iraq Vet with PTSD
Iraq vet with PTSD makes Colorado's first legal recreational pot purchase
NBC News
By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer
January 1, 2014
Colorado's legal recreational marijuana industry kicked off Wednesday with an Iraq war veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder making the first pot purchase under the new law.
Sean Azzariti of Denver, who helped campaign for Amendment 64, bought an eighth of an ounce of a strain called Bubba Kush and a pot-infused edible truffle for $59 at the 3D Cannabis Center — one of about a dozen retailers that began selling up to an ounce of weed to adults starting at 8 a.m. mountain time.
"It's pretty surreal," the cashier told Azzariti, who grinned widely.
"Thank you so much," he said as he accepted the package and held up his receipt for a phalanx of television cameras at the carefully choreographed inaugural sale.
"I feel amazing. This is a huge step forward for veterans," he said. "Now I get to use recreational cannabis to alleviate my PTSD."
read more here
NBC News
By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer
January 1, 2014
Colorado's legal recreational marijuana industry kicked off Wednesday with an Iraq war veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder making the first pot purchase under the new law.
Sean Azzariti of Denver, who helped campaign for Amendment 64, bought an eighth of an ounce of a strain called Bubba Kush and a pot-infused edible truffle for $59 at the 3D Cannabis Center — one of about a dozen retailers that began selling up to an ounce of weed to adults starting at 8 a.m. mountain time.
"It's pretty surreal," the cashier told Azzariti, who grinned widely.
"Thank you so much," he said as he accepted the package and held up his receipt for a phalanx of television cameras at the carefully choreographed inaugural sale.
"I feel amazing. This is a huge step forward for veterans," he said. "Now I get to use recreational cannabis to alleviate my PTSD."
read more here
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Military families at Bangor event praise law use of marijuana to treat PTSD
Veterans, caregivers at Bangor event praise law allowing use of marijuana to treat PTSD
Bangor Daily News
Nick McCrea
BDN Staff
October 1, 2013
BANGOR, Maine — Former U.S. Marine Sgt. Ryan Begin returned from war in Iraq without his right elbow. A roadside bomb destroyed it in 2004. Begin’s scars weren’t all visible when he returned home.
“You can’t trust anyone,” said Begin, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of his service. “Any situation, all you can see is the danger.”
Even routine events like driving under an overpass or hearing a loud bang can cause a person with PTSD to shut down or react aggressively, he said.
Marijuana eases Begin’s stress, which is why the Montville resident said Maine is taking the right steps by allowing veterans and others suffering from PTSD to take advantage of the drug.
Begin and Cpl. Bryan King, a retired Marine and medical marijuana patient from Fairfield, stood alongside representatives of the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine and the American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday during a press conference celebrating a change in state law that will allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients suffering from PTSD.
The law, stemming from a bill proposed by Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson, D-Rockland, goes into effect on Oct. 9. The update also will allow physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients with inflammatory bowel disease and a few other illnesses. It will take effect without Gov. Paul LePage’s signature.
read more here
United for Care to Petition for Medical Marijuana Amendment in Florida
Bangor Daily News
Nick McCrea
BDN Staff
October 1, 2013
BANGOR, Maine — Former U.S. Marine Sgt. Ryan Begin returned from war in Iraq without his right elbow. A roadside bomb destroyed it in 2004. Begin’s scars weren’t all visible when he returned home.
“You can’t trust anyone,” said Begin, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of his service. “Any situation, all you can see is the danger.”
Even routine events like driving under an overpass or hearing a loud bang can cause a person with PTSD to shut down or react aggressively, he said.
Marijuana eases Begin’s stress, which is why the Montville resident said Maine is taking the right steps by allowing veterans and others suffering from PTSD to take advantage of the drug.
Begin and Cpl. Bryan King, a retired Marine and medical marijuana patient from Fairfield, stood alongside representatives of the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine and the American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday during a press conference celebrating a change in state law that will allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients suffering from PTSD.
The law, stemming from a bill proposed by Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson, D-Rockland, goes into effect on Oct. 9. The update also will allow physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients with inflammatory bowel disease and a few other illnesses. It will take effect without Gov. Paul LePage’s signature.
read more here
United for Care to Petition for Medical Marijuana Amendment in Florida
Sunday, September 29, 2013
United for Care to Petition for Medical Marijuana Amendment in Florida
UPDATE out of Maine
Medical Marijuana Law Changes Help PTSD Patients
WABI News 5
By Catherine Pegram
Posted Tuesday, October 1st, 2013
Mainers living with post traumatic stress disorder will soon have another option to manage their symptoms.
Next week, state law will allow doctors to legally recommend medical marijuana for patients.
“Until I found medical marijuana, I was a ticking time bomb.”
When Marine Corps Sergeant Ryan Begin’s elbow was blown off by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004, that was just the beginning of his pain.
Doctors also diagnosed him with post traumatic stress disorder.
“Any situation you see, all you see is the danger side of things. You don’t just see a street, you see a road that could be full of bombs. You see drunk drivers, you see people being unsafe, you see all of these horrific things around any daily event.”
Begin finally found relief in marijuana, then started working with advocates like Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine so others could find relief, too.
“We ran in humvees and we dealt with IEDs and stuff, so when I go under an overpass now, I still – the hair on the back of my neck, it’s still nerve wracking. But now with the use of medical marijuana, it only occurs for a brief second, a couple of seconds. It’s there and then it flows through me. It’s not just beating me in the back of my eyeballs continually.”
Supporters, like former Marine Corps Corporal Bryan King, say legally allowing patients to use pot will help anyone dealing with PTSD.
read more here
Medical Marijuana Law Changes Help PTSD Patients
WABI News 5
By Catherine Pegram
Posted Tuesday, October 1st, 2013
Mainers living with post traumatic stress disorder will soon have another option to manage their symptoms.
Next week, state law will allow doctors to legally recommend medical marijuana for patients.
“Until I found medical marijuana, I was a ticking time bomb.”
When Marine Corps Sergeant Ryan Begin’s elbow was blown off by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004, that was just the beginning of his pain.
Doctors also diagnosed him with post traumatic stress disorder.
“Any situation you see, all you see is the danger side of things. You don’t just see a street, you see a road that could be full of bombs. You see drunk drivers, you see people being unsafe, you see all of these horrific things around any daily event.”
Begin finally found relief in marijuana, then started working with advocates like Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine so others could find relief, too.
“We ran in humvees and we dealt with IEDs and stuff, so when I go under an overpass now, I still – the hair on the back of my neck, it’s still nerve wracking. But now with the use of medical marijuana, it only occurs for a brief second, a couple of seconds. It’s there and then it flows through me. It’s not just beating me in the back of my eyeballs continually.”
Supporters, like former Marine Corps Corporal Bryan King, say legally allowing patients to use pot will help anyone dealing with PTSD.
read more here
There are many conditions medical marijuana helps treat. Alzheimer's disease, Epilepsy, Multiple sclerosis, Glaucoma, Arthritis, Hepatitis C, Cancer, Morning sickness among others but the ones we should talk about here are Depression and Anxiety because they are part of PTSD.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN recently wrote a great report about how he became informed and change his mind of legalizing it.
The medications veterans are on have been more about numbing them than helping them live a better quality of life. Pot helps their bodies calm down but does not leave them feeling as if they are zombies. It doesn't freeze out their emotions. Given a choice between the side effects of most PTSD medications the VA provides getting chilled out and having the munchies isn't that bad. Then there are more that actually do not work any better than a placebo.
If you think that people will just abuse pot, think again. People abuse all kinds of things but we do not make them illegal. We put laws on them like drinking and not being able to drive drunk. They get arrested. Medical pot should not be any different just as there are laws to control the use of all medications. The other factor to consider is that veterans are very respectful of the law. They don't want to break the laws of the nation they risked their lives to defend, so even if there is something out there that helps them, they will not seek it if it is illegal.
On the flip side they end up with medications that are more dangerous to them because the drugs the VA provides are legal. Do we want to help them or not? Do we want to numb them or take care of them to give them the best quality of life they can have?
If you are still against it then think of this. Most medications are taken from plants. Pot is a plant too. Just because a pharmaceutical corporation doesn't have their label on it, doesn't mean it isn't a good thing.
United for Care to Petition for Medical Marijuana Amendment in Florida
With John Morgan leading the charge, United for Care has said they will petition Florida’s Secretary of State in the 2014 election to add an amendment to the state’s constitution that will legalize medical marijuana.
“I have the finished product in front of me,” John Morgan, founder of Morgan and Morgan and chairman of United for Care, said. “I’m going to have it delivered to the Secretary of State office by Friday or early next week at the latest.”
United for Care have solicited approx. 700,000 signatures necessary to get the item added to the 2014 general election ballot.
United for Care, a statewide organization at the forefront of the push to legalize medical marijuana in Florida, and the subgroup behind the campaign, People United for Medical Marijuana, have solicited around 700,000 signatures necessary to get the item added to the 2014 general election ballot.
read more here
Thursday, August 29, 2013
States legal use of marijuana ok with Department of Justice
Eric Holder Says DOJ Will Let Washington, Colorado Marijuana Laws Go Into Effect
Huffington Post
Ryan Reilly and Ryan Grim
Posted: 08/29/2013
WASHINGTON -- The United States government took a historic step back from its long-running drug war on Thursday, when Attorney General Eric Holder informed the governors of Washington and Colorado that the Department of Justice would allow the states to create a regime that would regulate and implement the ballot initiatives that legalized the use of marijuana for adults.
A Justice Department official said that Holder told the governors in a joint phone call early Thursday afternoon that the department would take a "trust but verify approach" to the state laws. DOJ is reserving its right to file a preemption lawsuit at a later date, since the states' regulation of marijuana is illegal under the Controlled Substances Act.
read more here
Huffington Post
Ryan Reilly and Ryan Grim
Posted: 08/29/2013
WASHINGTON -- The United States government took a historic step back from its long-running drug war on Thursday, when Attorney General Eric Holder informed the governors of Washington and Colorado that the Department of Justice would allow the states to create a regime that would regulate and implement the ballot initiatives that legalized the use of marijuana for adults.
A Justice Department official said that Holder told the governors in a joint phone call early Thursday afternoon that the department would take a "trust but verify approach" to the state laws. DOJ is reserving its right to file a preemption lawsuit at a later date, since the states' regulation of marijuana is illegal under the Controlled Substances Act.
read more here
Euphoria over PTSD drugs needs to be over
Euphoria over PTSD drugs needs to be over
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 29, 2013
Euphoria is "a good ability to endure" but not heal. So why is it that medications seem to be the only answer?
More and more reports on research being done on medications but evidence has shown most have come with warnings to not use them when the patient has depression because suicidal thoughts could increase. Some researchers point to this and say another medication needs to replace "what is" and go for the alternatives of medical marijuana to ecstasy to treat PTSD. Basically the response from many psychiatrists has been if it feels good, take it.
The problem is that while medications for PTSD were supposed to be about getting the chemicals of the brain level so that therapy had a better chance to work, they have been used in replace of what is less expensive but takes more time, listening.
Recently CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta came out in favor of medical marijuana but the use of it is far from new. Many Vietnam veterans used it to relax and clam down. It was a lot better than alcohol for them because instead of passing out from booze, they simply fell asleep. Keep in mind that chemicals, legal or not, take effect in the brain and thus hit the whole body. "The high-profile doc, who is CNN's chief medical correspondent, apologized for "not looking hard enough" at the research on medicinal marijuana that suggests it can help treat conditions from chronic pain to post-traumatic stress disorder."
Ecstasy has also been in the news around the world. The push in the US has been going on for years and now it seems that Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies is trying to get Australia to get involved.
"Doblin wants Australia to replicate a successful trial in the United States in which 80 per cent of soldiers and emergency workers in a study were successfully treated for PTSD using MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy, and psychotherapy. The controversial but legal program involved 20 veterans, who had not responded to other treatments, taking MDMA twice during three months of psychotherapy."
Wow! A whole 20 people participated in the study and 80% of them were "successfully treated" by getting high. Not impressed considering that the National Institute of Mental Health says Approximately 7.7 million American adults age 18 and older, or about 3.5 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have PTSD. PTSD can develop at any age, including childhood, but research shows that the median age of onset is 23 years. About 19 percent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD at some point after the war.13 The disorder also frequently occurs after violent personal assaults such as rape, mugging, or domestic violence; terrorism; natural or human-caused disasters; and accidents.
Topped off with the fact the VA has 3.9 million veterans collecting disability compensation with hundreds of thousands receiving treatment for PTSD and another huge percentage of veterans with PTSD still not seeking treatment. The assumption has been that less than half of our veterans with PTSD seek help.
This isn't new. Back in 2004 NBC News had a report that 1 in 8 soldiers back from combat had PTSD but less than half sought treatment. The CBO released a report in 2012 with 103,000 OEF OIF veterans with PTSD, 8,700 with TBI and 26,600 with both.
When you look at the hard numbers a research project on 20 veterans is not even yawn worthy.
Most of the veterans seeking help have a need to feel better and they are ready to grab at anything that does it, no matter how long it lasts. They make irrational decisions clinging onto whatever works for "now" hoping it is what does the trick for the long haul only to discover it didn't last long enough. They replace that fix with something else, then something else but the end result is always the same. It wears off and most of the time they feel worse than they did before. Why? Because while they were trying to fill the void and numb the pain, PTSD had rested up enough to get stronger.
Drugs, legal or otherwise, are not the answer especially when there is time to reverse most of what PTSD does. Early on treatment with medication blended with talk therapy, physical therapy and spiritual intervention reverses most of what PTSD does but even a perfect blend of all of these treatments do not cure it.
If too much time goes by, life gets in the way of healing and more parts of the human are hit including the brain itself. Scans have shown changes in the brain hit by PTSD. It hits the nervous system, heart, digestive organs and on and on. Even chronic cases of PTSD veterans can live better lives by combining treatments, so it is not hopeless but when we pretend that drugs are the answer the reality is, they are part of the problem when they are the only game in town.
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 29, 2013
Euphoria is "a good ability to endure" but not heal. So why is it that medications seem to be the only answer?
More and more reports on research being done on medications but evidence has shown most have come with warnings to not use them when the patient has depression because suicidal thoughts could increase. Some researchers point to this and say another medication needs to replace "what is" and go for the alternatives of medical marijuana to ecstasy to treat PTSD. Basically the response from many psychiatrists has been if it feels good, take it.
The problem is that while medications for PTSD were supposed to be about getting the chemicals of the brain level so that therapy had a better chance to work, they have been used in replace of what is less expensive but takes more time, listening.
Recently CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta came out in favor of medical marijuana but the use of it is far from new. Many Vietnam veterans used it to relax and clam down. It was a lot better than alcohol for them because instead of passing out from booze, they simply fell asleep. Keep in mind that chemicals, legal or not, take effect in the brain and thus hit the whole body. "The high-profile doc, who is CNN's chief medical correspondent, apologized for "not looking hard enough" at the research on medicinal marijuana that suggests it can help treat conditions from chronic pain to post-traumatic stress disorder."
Ecstasy has also been in the news around the world. The push in the US has been going on for years and now it seems that Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Director of Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies is trying to get Australia to get involved.
"Doblin wants Australia to replicate a successful trial in the United States in which 80 per cent of soldiers and emergency workers in a study were successfully treated for PTSD using MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy, and psychotherapy. The controversial but legal program involved 20 veterans, who had not responded to other treatments, taking MDMA twice during three months of psychotherapy."
Wow! A whole 20 people participated in the study and 80% of them were "successfully treated" by getting high. Not impressed considering that the National Institute of Mental Health says Approximately 7.7 million American adults age 18 and older, or about 3.5 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have PTSD. PTSD can develop at any age, including childhood, but research shows that the median age of onset is 23 years. About 19 percent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD at some point after the war.13 The disorder also frequently occurs after violent personal assaults such as rape, mugging, or domestic violence; terrorism; natural or human-caused disasters; and accidents.
Topped off with the fact the VA has 3.9 million veterans collecting disability compensation with hundreds of thousands receiving treatment for PTSD and another huge percentage of veterans with PTSD still not seeking treatment. The assumption has been that less than half of our veterans with PTSD seek help.
This isn't new. Back in 2004 NBC News had a report that 1 in 8 soldiers back from combat had PTSD but less than half sought treatment. The CBO released a report in 2012 with 103,000 OEF OIF veterans with PTSD, 8,700 with TBI and 26,600 with both.
When you look at the hard numbers a research project on 20 veterans is not even yawn worthy.
Most of the veterans seeking help have a need to feel better and they are ready to grab at anything that does it, no matter how long it lasts. They make irrational decisions clinging onto whatever works for "now" hoping it is what does the trick for the long haul only to discover it didn't last long enough. They replace that fix with something else, then something else but the end result is always the same. It wears off and most of the time they feel worse than they did before. Why? Because while they were trying to fill the void and numb the pain, PTSD had rested up enough to get stronger.
Drugs, legal or otherwise, are not the answer especially when there is time to reverse most of what PTSD does. Early on treatment with medication blended with talk therapy, physical therapy and spiritual intervention reverses most of what PTSD does but even a perfect blend of all of these treatments do not cure it.
If too much time goes by, life gets in the way of healing and more parts of the human are hit including the brain itself. Scans have shown changes in the brain hit by PTSD. It hits the nervous system, heart, digestive organs and on and on. Even chronic cases of PTSD veterans can live better lives by combining treatments, so it is not hopeless but when we pretend that drugs are the answer the reality is, they are part of the problem when they are the only game in town.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
War correspondent Michael Hastings had PTSD
This would have been a better title "War correspondent Michael Hastings had PTSD" instead of ending it with "used drugs" because while that may get more attention it is a disservice to veterans with PTSD using medical marijuana topped off with the fact it was not part of the accident that claimed his life. Shame on CNN!
Journalist Michael Hastings had PTSD, used drugs
CNN
By Matt Smith
August 20, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Hastings likely died instantly, autopsy report states
Drugs residues in his system don't appear to have played a role in the crash
Hastings was known for a Rolling Stone piece that got a top general sacked
He had been using medical marijuana to treat PTSD, the report states
(CNN) -- War correspondent Michael Hastings may have been using marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder before his death, but drug use doesn't appear to have been a factor in his fatal car accident, according to his autopsy report.
Hastings, 33, likely died within seconds when his Mercedes-Benz slammed into a tree in Los Angeles on June 18, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office found. He was best known for a 2010 Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, that led to McChrystal being sacked.
read more here
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Dr. Sanjay Gupta comes out in support of medical marijuana for PTSD
Dr. Sanjay Gupta comes out in support of medical marijuana
‘We have been terribly and systematically misled’
Gupta, who is CNN's chief medical correspondent, said he had been too dismissive of research and case studies that pointed to benefits of medicinal marijuana.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY TRACY MILLER
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013
Dr. Sanjay Gupta has something to say about marijuana: I was wrong.
The high-profile doc, who is CNN's chief medical correspondent, apologized for "not looking hard enough" at the research on medicinal marijuana that suggests it can help treat conditions from chronic pain to post-traumatic stress disorder.
"We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that," he wrote in an op-ed published Thursday on CNN.com.
"It doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works."
Gupta, who authored a 2009 Time magazine article titled "Why I would Vote No on Pot," changed his mind while working on his documentary "Weed," which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CNN.
read more here
‘We have been terribly and systematically misled’
Gupta, who is CNN's chief medical correspondent, said he had been too dismissive of research and case studies that pointed to benefits of medicinal marijuana.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY TRACY MILLER
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013
Dr. Sanjay Gupta has something to say about marijuana: I was wrong.
The high-profile doc, who is CNN's chief medical correspondent, apologized for "not looking hard enough" at the research on medicinal marijuana that suggests it can help treat conditions from chronic pain to post-traumatic stress disorder.
"We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that," he wrote in an op-ed published Thursday on CNN.com.
"It doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works."
Gupta, who authored a 2009 Time magazine article titled "Why I would Vote No on Pot," changed his mind while working on his documentary "Weed," which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CNN.
read more here
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Maine joins other states treating PTSD with Marijuana
Maine approves medical marijuana for PTSD
By William Breathes
in Legislation
Medical, News Thursday
June 27, 2013
Post-traumatic stress disorder isn't just a media buzzword. It's mental and often physical suffering that affects millions of people to varying degrees, often making life unlivable. In recent years, cannabis has been shown - albeit anecdotal - to help improve PTSD symptoms yet many states with medical marijuana laws still don't allow it as a qualifying condition.
As of today, however, there's one less. Maine Gov. Paul LePage signed LD 1062 yesterday, authorizing patients with PTSD to legally access cannabis in that state. Maine joins New Mexico and Oregon in passing MMJ-PTSD legislation this year.
Connecticut, California, Delaware, and Massachusetts also have PTSD provisions in their state laws.
read more here
By William Breathes
in Legislation
Medical, News Thursday
June 27, 2013
Post-traumatic stress disorder isn't just a media buzzword. It's mental and often physical suffering that affects millions of people to varying degrees, often making life unlivable. In recent years, cannabis has been shown - albeit anecdotal - to help improve PTSD symptoms yet many states with medical marijuana laws still don't allow it as a qualifying condition.
As of today, however, there's one less. Maine Gov. Paul LePage signed LD 1062 yesterday, authorizing patients with PTSD to legally access cannabis in that state. Maine joins New Mexico and Oregon in passing MMJ-PTSD legislation this year.
Connecticut, California, Delaware, and Massachusetts also have PTSD provisions in their state laws.
read more here
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Bill to Add PTSD to Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Program Advances
Bill to Add PTSD to Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Program Advances
The Daily Chronic
By Thomas H. Clarke
March 2, 2013
SALEM, OR — A bill that would expand Oregon’s medical marijuana program by adding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of qualifying ailments has advanced in the Senate.
The Senate Health Committee voted 4-1 Thursday to approve Senate Bill 281, which would add post-traumatic stress disorder to the definition of “debilitating medical condition” for the purpose of authorizing the medical use of marijuana.
Use of medical marijuana is currently allowed in the state for patients with certain debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV and AIDS.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs in people who have seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the threat of injury or death.
Military veterans returning from combat often suffer symptoms of PTSD.
read more here
The Daily Chronic
By Thomas H. Clarke
March 2, 2013
SALEM, OR — A bill that would expand Oregon’s medical marijuana program by adding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the list of qualifying ailments has advanced in the Senate.
The Senate Health Committee voted 4-1 Thursday to approve Senate Bill 281, which would add post-traumatic stress disorder to the definition of “debilitating medical condition” for the purpose of authorizing the medical use of marijuana.
Use of medical marijuana is currently allowed in the state for patients with certain debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV and AIDS.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs in people who have seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the threat of injury or death.
Military veterans returning from combat often suffer symptoms of PTSD.
read more here
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Rocky mountain high or Sensible Colorado?
I have very religious friends saying there should not be medical marijuana for anything. They add to this thought that people will abuse it, never once considering that people will abuse everything but everything is not illegal. They forget that pot has helped a lot of people with illnesses just as they have forgotten that cocaine used to be used by doctors to ease pain. Saying it will be abused does not erase the help it delivers.
Vietnam veterans used it to help their combat PTSD because when they came home, there was nothing for them and narrow minded people called them "pot heads" simply because the few media reports about Vietnam veterans involved arrests. No one was talking about them they way today's veterans are talked about. Had it not been for Vietnam veterans, what is being done to address PTSD today wouldn't have happened.
PTSD research, all PTSD programs and treatments, crisis intervention and trauma specialists along with most mental health experts started because of them pushing for all of it.
So now we over 40 years of veterans doing their own research using pot to calm down and treat side effects of medications they are on but other people would prefer to just label them instead of learning the facts. If they stopped to read the side effects of the medications our veterans are given, they would understand the need for a less harmful drug.
I support medical marijuana because it helps more and harms less.
Vietnam veterans used it to help their combat PTSD because when they came home, there was nothing for them and narrow minded people called them "pot heads" simply because the few media reports about Vietnam veterans involved arrests. No one was talking about them they way today's veterans are talked about. Had it not been for Vietnam veterans, what is being done to address PTSD today wouldn't have happened.
PTSD research, all PTSD programs and treatments, crisis intervention and trauma specialists along with most mental health experts started because of them pushing for all of it.
So now we over 40 years of veterans doing their own research using pot to calm down and treat side effects of medications they are on but other people would prefer to just label them instead of learning the facts. If they stopped to read the side effects of the medications our veterans are given, they would understand the need for a less harmful drug.
I support medical marijuana because it helps more and harms less.
Stress test
by Jeff Koch
In Colorado, folks can acquire marijuana to treat their chronic illnesses, as long as those illnesses qualify as "an appropriately diagnosed, debilitating medical condition," as defined by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The approved list includes muscle spasms, chronic pain and even severe nausea, but what's more interesting is what's not included. And that you can easily see in a much longer list, covering more than a dozen conditions the department has received petitions to add, but rejected. Among them: asthma, diabetes, Hepatitis C and post-traumatic stress disorder.
However, with its second PTSD petition in as many years, Sensible Colorado, a marijuana advocacy group based in Denver, hopes to do a little list revision. "The state health department is still examining the petition," says Brian Vicente, the organization's executive director.
It's an interesting situation, because since its inception in 2000, the Colorado medical marijuana law has never OK'd anything but the original maladies. Contrast that with states like New Mexico, which put PTSD on its list of approved ailments at the behest of its veterans; California's already lenient law — which was written to allow doctors to prescribe MMJ at their discretion for what the California Department of Public Health calls "any other chronic or persistent medical symptom"; and Arizona, which has already done exactly what Sensible Colorado is trying to do.
read more here
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
White House snuffs out pot for PTSD petition
No pot for PTSD, White House says
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Tuesday Jul 17, 2012
An effort to persuade the Obama administration to legalize marijuana for sufferers of post-traumatic stress has met with a sound rejection from the White House.
Responding to a petition signed by 8,258 people on the White House website, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske wrote last month that marijuana is not a “benign drug” and does not meet standards of safe or effective medicine.
“When the President took office, he directed all his policymakers to develop policies on science and research, not ideology or politics,” Kerlikowske wrote.
The White House usually requires 25,000 signatures before it will respond to such petitions.
The “Allow United States Disabled Military Veterans Access To Medical Marijuana To Treat Their PTSD” petition was launched last year by former Air Force Sgt. Mike Krawitz, executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access.
read more here
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Tuesday Jul 17, 2012
An effort to persuade the Obama administration to legalize marijuana for sufferers of post-traumatic stress has met with a sound rejection from the White House.
Responding to a petition signed by 8,258 people on the White House website, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske wrote last month that marijuana is not a “benign drug” and does not meet standards of safe or effective medicine.
“When the President took office, he directed all his policymakers to develop policies on science and research, not ideology or politics,” Kerlikowske wrote.
The White House usually requires 25,000 signatures before it will respond to such petitions.
The “Allow United States Disabled Military Veterans Access To Medical Marijuana To Treat Their PTSD” petition was launched last year by former Air Force Sgt. Mike Krawitz, executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access.
read more here
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Disgraceful pot group uses POW-MIA flag for their own!
UPDATE
Pro-pot vets group changes name but keeps logo
By Rick Maze - Times staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 1, 2012
Veterans For Weed is becoming Veterans For Weed United in a retreat after the nation’s largest organization for combat veterans raised objections to the use of the acronym VFW.
“We have chosen to remove all current artwork using the VFW sign,” said a statement on the group’s website. “We respect the Veterans of Foreign Wars and apologize for any inconvenience this caused them with the similar abbreviation.”
However, the VFWU group — which it now wants to be known as — isn’t backing down from appropriating a modified version of a POW/MIA logo as a symbol of its campaign.
Veterans of Foreign Wars, which owns the copyright to the acronym VFW, sent a cease-and-desist order to the Milwaukee-based pro-pot organization demanding it stop using the name.
Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the marijuana group has taken a small step.
“We would prefer their new acronym be something different, like VWU (Veterans for Weed United) but at least it helps eliminate some confusion,” Davis said.
Davis added that continuing to use the POW/MIA logo is wrong.
read more here
Pro-pot vets group changes name but keeps logo
By Rick Maze - Times staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 1, 2012
Veterans For Weed is becoming Veterans For Weed United in a retreat after the nation’s largest organization for combat veterans raised objections to the use of the acronym VFW.
“We have chosen to remove all current artwork using the VFW sign,” said a statement on the group’s website. “We respect the Veterans of Foreign Wars and apologize for any inconvenience this caused them with the similar abbreviation.”
However, the VFWU group — which it now wants to be known as — isn’t backing down from appropriating a modified version of a POW/MIA logo as a symbol of its campaign.
Veterans of Foreign Wars, which owns the copyright to the acronym VFW, sent a cease-and-desist order to the Milwaukee-based pro-pot organization demanding it stop using the name.
Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the marijuana group has taken a small step.
“We would prefer their new acronym be something different, like VWU (Veterans for Weed United) but at least it helps eliminate some confusion,” Davis said.
Davis added that continuing to use the POW/MIA logo is wrong.
read more here
I cannot put into words the depth of what I am feeling right now. There are just no words for this disgraceful act!
Pro-Pot Group Criticized Over Use of VFW Name, POW Flag
February 01, 2012
Stars and Stripes
by Leo Shane III
Pro-Pot Group Appropriates VFW Name, POW Flag
WASHINGTON -- The Veterans of Foreign Wars does not support and is in no way connected with Veterans For Weed, even though both are using the VFW acronym. Now, officials from the traditional VFW are warning leaders of the stoner VFW they’ll sue if they don’t stop riding their coattails.
On Monday, the real VFW (they’ve held the copyright on the acronym for more than six decades) sent the Milwaukee-based pro-marijuana group a cease-and-desist letter, calling their use of the acronym misleading and illegal. Officials said they’ll move ahead with more serious legal action if the other guys don’t drop the three-letter name on all communications, websites and other products.
Veterans for Weed has also drawn criticism in recent days for posting a doctored version of the POW/MIA logo, this time with the words “POT POW” and “Semper High” and a silhouette of a servicemember smoking. The logo, created for the National League of POW/MIA Families, is not copyrighted, but is revered by many in the veterans and military community.
Officials from that group have also requested the picture be taken down, calling on the pro-pot group to do “what is right and responsible.”read more here
Friday, January 27, 2012
Vermont proposal: Legalize pot for PTSD treatment
Vt. proposal: Legalize pot for PTSD treatment
By Wilson Ring - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 26, 2012 17:00:20 EST
MONTPELIER, Vt. — A Vermont lawmaker wants to amend the state’s medical marijuana law so that anyone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder could use it to help alleviate their symptoms.
State Rep. Jim Masland said he introduced the bill earlier this month at the request of a number of his constituents who were using marijuana to alleviate stress symptoms they felt were caused by their military service.
“I understand that these unnamed individuals, at least a couple, haven’t been able to find relief any other way or at least this is the best way for relief,” Masland, D-Thetford, said Thursday. “So I would say they are quietly, surreptitiously using marijuana, but they would much rather do it legally.”
Masland said the veterans who asked him to introduce the legislation had served in the Vietnam War as well as the wars the United States has fought over the last decade.
read more here
By Wilson Ring - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 26, 2012 17:00:20 EST
MONTPELIER, Vt. — A Vermont lawmaker wants to amend the state’s medical marijuana law so that anyone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder could use it to help alleviate their symptoms.
State Rep. Jim Masland said he introduced the bill earlier this month at the request of a number of his constituents who were using marijuana to alleviate stress symptoms they felt were caused by their military service.
“I understand that these unnamed individuals, at least a couple, haven’t been able to find relief any other way or at least this is the best way for relief,” Masland, D-Thetford, said Thursday. “So I would say they are quietly, surreptitiously using marijuana, but they would much rather do it legally.”
Masland said the veterans who asked him to introduce the legislation had served in the Vietnam War as well as the wars the United States has fought over the last decade.
read more here
Saturday, September 24, 2011
More Evidence That Marijuana-Like Drugs May Help Prevent PTSD
Not sure if it will "prevent it" but I know a lot of veterans helped by it. It calms them down when nothing else seems to be able to.
More Evidence That Marijuana-Like Drugs May Help Prevent PTSD
By Maia Szalavitz Friday, September 23, 2011
Could a marijuana-based medicine potentially prevent the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? If the findings of a new study in rodents hold up, they may offer a new avenue for treatment of an illness that affects at least 7% of Americans during their lifetimes.
For the study, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, researchers exposed rats to severe, Navy Seal-level stress, including restraint, forced swims and anesthetization. Luckier control rats just stayed in their cages and were handled twice by researchers.
Like humans who develop PTSD, the stress-exposed rats later became oversensitized to more moderately stressful stimuli, showing an exaggerated startle response to loud noises, for example.
These rats also took longer to recognize that a once scary spot in a cage was now safe. Animals that had experienced traumatic stress also showed related changes in stress hormones.
But rats that were severely stressed, then immediately given a synthetic compound that mimics the effects of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, were mellower. They showed none of the stress-related changes seen in the rats receiving placebo.
The timing of the drug (known as WIN55, 212-2) mattered, though. The injections prevented symptoms of PTSD when they were given two or 24 hours after stress, but had no effect when administered 48 hours later.
The study, which involved a total of 637 male rats included in a series of 16 experiments, follows up similar previous work by the same author, this time using different tests of stress.
read more here
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Prescription medications that Army doctors doled out failed him
Former platoon sergeant says marijuana was 'the only thing' that controlled his PTSD
By BILL MURPHY JR.
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 1, 2011
Five years out of the military as of next month, however, Raines has changed his mind.
Using marijuana, he said, was the only way he could control his intense anger and anxiety as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder. The drug was a crutch, but a necessary one, he said, and it enabled him to go to college, earn his degree and land a decent job.
It succeeded, he said, where the fistfuls of prescription medications that Army doctors doled out failed him.
read more here
By BILL MURPHY JR.
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 1, 2011
Former Army Sgt. Jamey Raines came home from Iraq and fought another battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming largely from memories of losing friends in combat. He says he overcame the debilitating effects of PTSD with the help of marijuana. Courtesy of Jamey RainesJamey Raines tried marijuana once or twice in high school, but he said he had no interest in it after he joined the Army in 2000. He served in heavy combat in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 and rose through the ranks from private to platoon sergeant. Along the way he drank and smoked cigarettes like many infantrymen do, but he said he was “100 percent against” using any drug in any form.
Five years out of the military as of next month, however, Raines has changed his mind.
Using marijuana, he said, was the only way he could control his intense anger and anxiety as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder. The drug was a crutch, but a necessary one, he said, and it enabled him to go to college, earn his degree and land a decent job.
It succeeded, he said, where the fistfuls of prescription medications that Army doctors doled out failed him.
read more here
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Police raid on Gilbert home sparks medical marijuana outcry
Police raid on Gilbert home sparks medical marijuana outcry
By Mike Sakal, Tribune
A couple hours after a DirecTV worker saw marijuana and hashish inside a bedroom closet of Ross Taylor’s Gilbert home during the installation process of a satellite dish, 12 Gilbert police officers wearing masks and toting guns busted into his house and took his pot.
Taylor, 35, is a card-carrying medical marijuana patient under Arizona’s new voter-approved law, who said he uses it for a severe loss of appetite and sleep due to post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
But police said Taylor was not in legal possession of about 2 ounces of pot and a small amount of hashish that officers confiscated with some paraphernalia from his Gilbert home in the 7100 block of South Fawn Avenue on June 9.
Whether legitimate medical marijuana patients will become targets of prosecution involving how they obtained marijuana remains to be seen, as no such cases have reached the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, but Taylor said he believes the satellite worker overstepped his bounds by calling police after he showed him his medical marijuana card.
“The worker saw the marijuana in my closet and I told him, ‘Don’t get weird on me, I’m a medical marijuana patient,’ ” Taylor said. “He proceeded to tell me he was OK with it, and that he voted for it. I feel the police overreacted.”
read more here
Police raid on Gilbert home sparks medical marijuana outcry
By Mike Sakal, Tribune
A couple hours after a DirecTV worker saw marijuana and hashish inside a bedroom closet of Ross Taylor’s Gilbert home during the installation process of a satellite dish, 12 Gilbert police officers wearing masks and toting guns busted into his house and took his pot.
Taylor, 35, is a card-carrying medical marijuana patient under Arizona’s new voter-approved law, who said he uses it for a severe loss of appetite and sleep due to post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
But police said Taylor was not in legal possession of about 2 ounces of pot and a small amount of hashish that officers confiscated with some paraphernalia from his Gilbert home in the 7100 block of South Fawn Avenue on June 9.
Whether legitimate medical marijuana patients will become targets of prosecution involving how they obtained marijuana remains to be seen, as no such cases have reached the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, but Taylor said he believes the satellite worker overstepped his bounds by calling police after he showed him his medical marijuana card.
“The worker saw the marijuana in my closet and I told him, ‘Don’t get weird on me, I’m a medical marijuana patient,’ ” Taylor said. “He proceeded to tell me he was OK with it, and that he voted for it. I feel the police overreacted.”
read more here
Police raid on Gilbert home sparks medical marijuana outcry
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Sgt. Northcutt's Post-Iraq Nightmare
If you are more offended by the language in this article than what they story really is, then you really shouldn't be reading this blog. I'm sure my regular readers will overlook the street language because they would probable be using the same words themselves. Why not? When I'm angry I still use them. What our troops are going through with being kept in combat on medication is enough to get anyone angry.
Sgt. Northcutt's Post-Iraq Nightmare: Getting Arrested for Growing Pot
By Fred Gardner, O'Shaughnessy's . Posted September 1, 2009.
Phillip Northcutt started legally cultivating medical marijuana to deal with PTSD from fighting in the Iraq. It wasn't long before the police and the courts caught up with him.
Phil Northcutt saw the map of Iraq on the wall and started recalling his time there. He’d been stationed in Ramadi, Al Anbar Province, in 2004.
Phil Northcutt: There was this main street, ‘Route Michigan,’ like a 4-lane highway going through town with a 12-inch tall median painted yellow and black. When we first got there you could see big holes in the median. By the time we left, there was no median. It had been blown up along six or seven miles of roadway...
There were two different kinds of fighters we engaged. When we first got there it was like local fighters. You could tell. They were wearing the man dresses and flip-flops and they had old rusty AKs. They were like beat-up, ragged-out goat herders but with weapons. They didn’t use squad maneuvers, they didn’t use military tactics, it was a shoot and run kind of thing. And pretty much we killed all those guys or they went away.
And then the second wave came in. These dudes were wearing brand new Adidas, American jeans, they were wearing tactical rigs like American contractors, baseball hats, sunglasses –they looked like American contractors.
read more here
Getting Arrested for Growing Pot
Thursday, September 11, 2008
From Marijuana to Ecstasy, Scientists Fight to Study Illicit Drugs
Hurdles Keep Street Drugs Out of Medicine Chest
From Marijuana to Ecstasy, Scientists Fight to Study Illicit Drugs' Medical Properties
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Sept. 11, 2008
The patients at Dr. Michael Mithoefer's clinic in South Carolina all suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Some are the victims of rape and child sexual abuse, others -- veterans returning home from Iraq -- bear the psychic scars of war.
They have tried other therapies before but here, under the watchful eye of Mithoefer and his staff, they're trying something new -- MDMA, better known as ecstasy, a drug that if bought on a street corner would land these patients in jail.
The results of the Mithoefer study -- the first Food and Drug Administration-approved Phase 2 trial of MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress -- will not be known until it concludes later this month. But the treatment already shows promise, the doctor says.
"We have had some very dramatic results," Mithoefer said. "We have examples of people on disability for years who have now returned to work. The treatment has had a profound effect on a number of people whose symptoms are now much better. It hasn't been that way for everybody but, overall, this seems to be much more effective than what is currently out there."
click post title for more
From Marijuana to Ecstasy, Scientists Fight to Study Illicit Drugs' Medical Properties
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Sept. 11, 2008
The patients at Dr. Michael Mithoefer's clinic in South Carolina all suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Some are the victims of rape and child sexual abuse, others -- veterans returning home from Iraq -- bear the psychic scars of war.
They have tried other therapies before but here, under the watchful eye of Mithoefer and his staff, they're trying something new -- MDMA, better known as ecstasy, a drug that if bought on a street corner would land these patients in jail.
The results of the Mithoefer study -- the first Food and Drug Administration-approved Phase 2 trial of MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress -- will not be known until it concludes later this month. But the treatment already shows promise, the doctor says.
"We have had some very dramatic results," Mithoefer said. "We have examples of people on disability for years who have now returned to work. The treatment has had a profound effect on a number of people whose symptoms are now much better. It hasn't been that way for everybody but, overall, this seems to be much more effective than what is currently out there."
click post title for more
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Ongoing PTSD nightmare
How America Really Treats Combat Vets: A Marine's Story Part 3 (VIDEO)
Tim King Salem-News.com
A Marine Corps Iraq combat vet is placed in a jail "Unfit for insurgent prisoners" for growing marijuana plants that help him deal with PTSD.
So much for having a sense of humor; in Iraq combat
Marines had Phil Northcutt's back. Here in the states he
is a criminal for growing medical marijuana
(SALEM, Ore.) - In part one of this special three-part series report, we learned that Marine Corps Sergeant Phillip Northcutt of Long Beach, California, began his enlistment in the Marines in 1998 as the platoon "Honorman" or "Guide" - serving with honor during a volunteer one year "recall" tour of duty, and was injured in Iraq. In Part 2 it was revealed that police in Southern California like to arrest Marines, and that they don't know their own legal system.
This is part 3 in a special series on Marine Corps Sergeant Phil Northcutt, whose life went from Marine combat hero in Iraq, to homeless felon in California, simply because he used the only thing that helped him deal with Post traumatic Stress Disorder: legal medical marijuana.
While the DEA remains on point as anti-marijuana crusaders, Southern California law authorities seem to have it in for the Marines, and there are a great many of us who have suffered the wrath for our association with the eagle, globe and anchor in both LA and Orange Counties. It makes little sense, but is still the case. The marijuana element just aggravates an already volatile relationship.
This is the part I wanted you to pay attention to. While there are some judges who do in fact use their right to decide what is the appropriate justice to deliver and send a lot of our veterans into treatment instead of jail, there are far too many who do not. They think jail will be the answer to all problems. At least it will get them off the streets for however long they can be locked up, in other words. This is what a lot of veterans have to go through when they have PTSD and trying to cope with it. They have the VA turning down their claims or seeing their suffering continue as their claim works its way up from the bottomless abyss of backlog claims, only to be denied for not following the "rules" or not submitting the right form.
This is how some end up homeless, unable to work but wanting to work and end up in jail.
This is what happens when their wound is not taken care of as soon as possible. This is what happens when the rules do not live up justice and treatment is denied along with compensation for the wounds they carry home with them. Very sad and very, very wrong.
Big thanks to Lily of Healing Combat Trauma for sending me this link.
Tim King Salem-News.com
A Marine Corps Iraq combat vet is placed in a jail "Unfit for insurgent prisoners" for growing marijuana plants that help him deal with PTSD.
So much for having a sense of humor; in Iraq combat
Marines had Phil Northcutt's back. Here in the states he
is a criminal for growing medical marijuana
(SALEM, Ore.) - In part one of this special three-part series report, we learned that Marine Corps Sergeant Phillip Northcutt of Long Beach, California, began his enlistment in the Marines in 1998 as the platoon "Honorman" or "Guide" - serving with honor during a volunteer one year "recall" tour of duty, and was injured in Iraq. In Part 2 it was revealed that police in Southern California like to arrest Marines, and that they don't know their own legal system.
This is part 3 in a special series on Marine Corps Sergeant Phil Northcutt, whose life went from Marine combat hero in Iraq, to homeless felon in California, simply because he used the only thing that helped him deal with Post traumatic Stress Disorder: legal medical marijuana.
While the DEA remains on point as anti-marijuana crusaders, Southern California law authorities seem to have it in for the Marines, and there are a great many of us who have suffered the wrath for our association with the eagle, globe and anchor in both LA and Orange Counties. It makes little sense, but is still the case. The marijuana element just aggravates an already volatile relationship.
Ongoing PTSD nightmare
Those who know people with PTSD are probably aware that many of these unfortunate sufferers deal with flashbacks and nightmares. Phil Northcutt survived one firefight after another in Iraq, but his psychological trauma is not strictly related to the battlefield.
The bars of an LA County Jail cell, courtesy: ACLU
"I suffer from PTSD. I have flashbacks not just from the war but from my incarceration. I never really knew what a flashback was. Now I do. Its a flood of emotion, like fear and anxiety, panic, that results from a single memory that just randomly pops into my head. Its like one long nightmare that won't end. Now my two separate nightmares, (War/Jail) just commingle into one."
When he emerged from the nightmare of jail, Phil Northcutt was homeless.
"My girlfriend, and I had a son together while I was incarcerated. Upon my release she returned to California from Oklahoma. We had nowhere to go. We stayed at hotels and on friends floors or couches. We had no money for food and had to borrow from everyone who would talk to us. It was so humiliating. Here my friends had just seen me as a Sergeant of Marines, who some considered a hero. A man who owned his own screenprinting business. My friends and family were so proud of me."
As a homeless, unemployed, convicted felon, Northcutt's own 15-year old daughter won't even speak to him. He says he wanted to just kill himself. "The only thing that kept me from doing it was knowing that no one would look out for my family. How would they eat? Where would they sleep?"
After 2 months on the streets, Phil got a job with a screenprinting company who had previously hired him as a print consultant.
"They knew my situation and hired me anyways. Like many Californians, they support medical marijuana and can't understand why they would mess with someone like me. So now, I work for about 1/3 of what I would usually make."
Now this former Marine can barely pay his bills. He lives with his family in a friend's studio apartment who is out of town. The problems working with the military continue.
"I have to miss work to go to the VA for my medical appointments so I lose money by going to my doctor. Then there's the court appearances and probation. I have to test for drugs even though the only drug I've ever been convicted of anything for is medical cannabis. They tell me at 8pm if I'm testing the next day. I miss work again. My boss is really bummed because I'm never there. I'm bummed because I wouldn't be making enough even if I was there. I missed an appointment this week because I didn't have the bus money."
go here for more
http://salem-news.com/articles/april122008/ptsd_phil_4-9-08.php
This is the part I wanted you to pay attention to. While there are some judges who do in fact use their right to decide what is the appropriate justice to deliver and send a lot of our veterans into treatment instead of jail, there are far too many who do not. They think jail will be the answer to all problems. At least it will get them off the streets for however long they can be locked up, in other words. This is what a lot of veterans have to go through when they have PTSD and trying to cope with it. They have the VA turning down their claims or seeing their suffering continue as their claim works its way up from the bottomless abyss of backlog claims, only to be denied for not following the "rules" or not submitting the right form.
This is how some end up homeless, unable to work but wanting to work and end up in jail.
This is what happens when their wound is not taken care of as soon as possible. This is what happens when the rules do not live up justice and treatment is denied along with compensation for the wounds they carry home with them. Very sad and very, very wrong.
Big thanks to Lily of Healing Combat Trauma for sending me this link.
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