Robert Celt
New Member
Mililtary.com is reporting that a growing number of states are weighing whether to legalize marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. But for many veterans, the debate is already over.
They're increasingly using cannabis even though it remains illegal in most states and is not approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs because major studies have yet to show it is effective against PTSD.
While the research has been contradictory and limited, some former members of the military say pot helps them manage their anxiety, insomnia and nightmares. Prescription drugs such as Klonopin and Zoloft weren't effective or left them feeling like zombies, some say.
"I went from being an anxious mess to numbing myself with the pills they were giving me," said Mike Whiter, a 39-year-old former Marine who lives in Philadelphia, where marijuana is illegal. "Cannabis helped me get out of the hole I was in. I started to talk to people and get over my social anxiety."
Others, though, have seen little benefit from the drug. And the VA has documented a troubling rise in the number of PTSD-afflicted veterans who have been diagnosed with marijuana dependence, which some experts say can hamper recovery from war trauma.
Sally Schindel, of Prescott, Arizona, said the VA diagnosed her son Andy Zorn with PTSD after he served in the Army in Iraq. The agency later diagnosed him with marijuana dependence as well as depression and bipolar disorder, she said.
A massive veterans reform measure including new employment rules for senior officials and an overhaul of outside care programs could be on the Senate floor early next month, the chair of the chamber's Veterans' Affairs Committee, according to Military Times.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said progress on the promised omnibus measure has picked up in recent days, and he is hopeful to have the package before House lawmakers with enough time for final passage before Memorial Day.
While the legislation will include a host of changes requested by VA officials on program updates and improvements, Isakson called new accountability provisions the centerpiece of the effort.
"I'm not someone who likes to fire people, but sometimes you have to," he told VA Secretary Bob McDonald at a hearing Thursday. "I want to give you the ability to hire good people, but I want you also to be able to hold them accountable."
The Marines stand-alone U.S. firebase recently set up in the campaign to defeat ISIS came under attack again Monday following the combat death Saturday of Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin from rocket fire in northern Iraq, according to Military.com.
"There was some small arms fire this morning" aimed at the new Firebase Bell and troops of the Iraqi Army's 15th Division near the town of Makhmour, which has become a staging base for the projected assault to retake the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task-Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
The small arms fire from a squad-sized unit of ISIS fighters was "ineffective" and no casualties resulted. Two ISIS fighters were killed "and the rest ran away," Warren said, but their ability to infiltrate Iraqi lines to get close to the Marine firebase, coupled with the rocket fire Saturday that killed Cardin, suggested that they had zeroed in on the new outpost.
The new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan apologized Tuesday to the people of Kunduz for the deadly attack on a hospital in the city last year that killed 42 people, the Associated Press is reporting.
U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson traveled to the northern city to meet local leaders and relatives of those who died in the Oct. 3 attack.
A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked the hospital run by medical charity Doctors Without Borders in what Nicholson called a "horrible tragedy."
Nicholson's wife Norine accompanied him to Kunduz, along with acting defense minister Masoom Stanekzai.
More than a dozen U.S. military personnel have been disciplined for mistakes that led to the sustained attack. A U.S military report on the hospital attack is expected to be released within days.
A separate U.S. report on the incident obtained last fall by The Associated Press said the aircraft fired 211 shells at the hospital compound over 29 minutes before commanders realized the error and ordered a halt.
Seventy-five years ago today, actor Jimmy Stewart, a newly minted Academy Award-winner, was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces and ended World War II with 20 combat missions. #Didyouknow he remained in the Air Force Reserve and was promoted to brigadier general on July 23, 1959, finally retiring from service on May 31, 1968.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Growing Number Of Combat Veterans Relying On Cannabis To Treat PTSD
Author: Mike Fitzgerald
Contact: Belleville News-Democrat
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Belleville News-Democrat
They're increasingly using cannabis even though it remains illegal in most states and is not approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs because major studies have yet to show it is effective against PTSD.
While the research has been contradictory and limited, some former members of the military say pot helps them manage their anxiety, insomnia and nightmares. Prescription drugs such as Klonopin and Zoloft weren't effective or left them feeling like zombies, some say.
"I went from being an anxious mess to numbing myself with the pills they were giving me," said Mike Whiter, a 39-year-old former Marine who lives in Philadelphia, where marijuana is illegal. "Cannabis helped me get out of the hole I was in. I started to talk to people and get over my social anxiety."
Others, though, have seen little benefit from the drug. And the VA has documented a troubling rise in the number of PTSD-afflicted veterans who have been diagnosed with marijuana dependence, which some experts say can hamper recovery from war trauma.
Sally Schindel, of Prescott, Arizona, said the VA diagnosed her son Andy Zorn with PTSD after he served in the Army in Iraq. The agency later diagnosed him with marijuana dependence as well as depression and bipolar disorder, she said.
A massive veterans reform measure including new employment rules for senior officials and an overhaul of outside care programs could be on the Senate floor early next month, the chair of the chamber's Veterans' Affairs Committee, according to Military Times.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said progress on the promised omnibus measure has picked up in recent days, and he is hopeful to have the package before House lawmakers with enough time for final passage before Memorial Day.
While the legislation will include a host of changes requested by VA officials on program updates and improvements, Isakson called new accountability provisions the centerpiece of the effort.
"I'm not someone who likes to fire people, but sometimes you have to," he told VA Secretary Bob McDonald at a hearing Thursday. "I want to give you the ability to hire good people, but I want you also to be able to hold them accountable."
The Marines stand-alone U.S. firebase recently set up in the campaign to defeat ISIS came under attack again Monday following the combat death Saturday of Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin from rocket fire in northern Iraq, according to Military.com.
"There was some small arms fire this morning" aimed at the new Firebase Bell and troops of the Iraqi Army's 15th Division near the town of Makhmour, which has become a staging base for the projected assault to retake the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task-Force-Operation Inherent Resolve.
The small arms fire from a squad-sized unit of ISIS fighters was "ineffective" and no casualties resulted. Two ISIS fighters were killed "and the rest ran away," Warren said, but their ability to infiltrate Iraqi lines to get close to the Marine firebase, coupled with the rocket fire Saturday that killed Cardin, suggested that they had zeroed in on the new outpost.
The new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan apologized Tuesday to the people of Kunduz for the deadly attack on a hospital in the city last year that killed 42 people, the Associated Press is reporting.
U.S. Army Gen. John Nicholson traveled to the northern city to meet local leaders and relatives of those who died in the Oct. 3 attack.
A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked the hospital run by medical charity Doctors Without Borders in what Nicholson called a "horrible tragedy."
Nicholson's wife Norine accompanied him to Kunduz, along with acting defense minister Masoom Stanekzai.
More than a dozen U.S. military personnel have been disciplined for mistakes that led to the sustained attack. A U.S military report on the hospital attack is expected to be released within days.
A separate U.S. report on the incident obtained last fall by The Associated Press said the aircraft fired 211 shells at the hospital compound over 29 minutes before commanders realized the error and ordered a halt.
Seventy-five years ago today, actor Jimmy Stewart, a newly minted Academy Award-winner, was drafted into the U.S. Armed Forces and ended World War II with 20 combat missions. #Didyouknow he remained in the Air Force Reserve and was promoted to brigadier general on July 23, 1959, finally retiring from service on May 31, 1968.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Growing Number Of Combat Veterans Relying On Cannabis To Treat PTSD
Author: Mike Fitzgerald
Contact: Belleville News-Democrat
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Belleville News-Democrat