Summary: Legalizing Marijuana For Veterans

Marijuana can help a person in many ways an individual person cannot. There are doctors who recommend marijuana to people with medical disorders. “The National Eating Disorder Association acknowledged marijuana as a viable treatment option.” (Arielle Pardes) One of the many physical effects marijuana has on someone includes a huge increase of appetite. Not only is it a good solution for people with eating disorders, it is also good for people who suffer with insomnia. “Cannabis Sativa L. has been utilized for treatments of pain and sleep disorders since the ancient times.”(Ethan Russo) Therefore, smoking marijuana helps people get the help they need to face the problems that they are suffering with.

b. Joe Messerli of Balancedpolitics.org, states, “There are a number of medical benefits of marijuana, most notably in the treatment of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Others believe it helps in the treatment of depression unlike alcohol.”

According to the United Nations, “158.8 million people around the world use marijuana—more than 3.8% of the planet’s population” (Marijuana). Marijuana has become a crucial topic throughout the world in recent years. Marijuana has been legalized medically throughout many countries, such as Australia, Chile, Spain, and Uruguay. Within the United States of America, twenty-eight states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, the most recent legalization passed was in the state of Florida. Therefore, one can assert that medical marijuana is a controversial topic locally and globally. Medical marijuana portrays many advantages and disadvantages within society. Medical marijuana portrays many benefits to victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,

Medical marijuana has been one of the most controversial topics in politics for years regardings its legalization and any possible benefits. Marijuana is commonly referred to as the “gateway drug” and has been thought to be what causes the downfall of our youth in today’s society. This has caused Marijuana to earn a bad reputation due to the immense surrounding propaganda and bias opinions. Cannabis is the scientific name of the plant which is absolutely natural and free of chemicals, but the psychoactive components in the plant has been proven to be of medical use. If medical marijuana is prescribed correctly it has the potential to help thousands of patients due to the variety of benefits it can medically provide. Medical Marijuana should

The initial reaction of PTSD is fear, nausea, dizziness, depression and sleep disturbances. Marijuana has been proved effective even for treatment resistant patients. While the side effects of smoking medical marijuana to help with PTSD can be a win/lose challenge depending on the way the patient’s body and how it reacts with different strains of marijuana it can either greatly lighten the symptoms while it may increase the symptoms including paranoia. The pills that a doctor would give a PTSD patient would have the same effect either it would work or make the symptoms worse. A patient who has PTSD can not control when they would have a episode, with the use of medical marijuana you can lower the chance of a episode happening when you smoke marijuana. Picking the right strain and find the right amount to smoke could be big variables in controlling episodes, mixing up up or changing the set usage it could cause the episodes to get worse and be more unexpected. Many veterans come back from serving time over seas fighting for our country that we love so much with depression problems, traumatic experiences, and bad sleeping habits. The men and women who come back to the US with PTSD find themselves at the bottom of a bottle or smoking marijuana I would rather see my loved one smoking marijuana than drinking themselves to death. People with PTSD have a hard time controlling their episodes and often even with over the counter medication their depression and flashbacks happen uncontrollably. With patients using medical marijuana to cope with PTSD have a stronger confidence in going out and not worrying about having to deal with depression or flashbacks. People with PTSD find it hard to enjoy everyday things in fear it could spark a flashback or send them straight into depression. The calming agents in marijuana helps the PTSD patient fight depression and the

Aside from all of the benefits to people who want to use marijuana recreationally, there are benefits to using it medically, too. It can help people who suffer from insomnia, as it can relax them and aid them in sleeping. It helps people who suffer with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), which is the most common example of medical marijuana use in the research. Also, people argue over whether or not it helps people with anxiety and depression. Though some consider marijuana a "gateway drug" (a light drug that tends to lead people to use harder drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, though continued use), it is entirely dependent on the person being recommended to use it whether or not they want to use it.

Marijuana is a very powerful drug, eighty percent of the United States of America allows the use of marijuana for health and municipal purposes. Some of the people that use marijuana for health purposes will also use it just for fun and to get a good buzz, which is wrong but there is nothing we can do about it, unless we arrest them and post bail. The only thing the government could do is completely take it away for health and municipal purposes. That would leave thousands of people in pain and thousands of people would die just because people don't think it's a safe drug to use. They also think that if one person uses it then it could hurt or affect others. That is true but when it’s used respectfully and responsibly I don't think it would hurt anyone. The use of marijuana can help soldiers that have been to war and have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I personally know a man that was cured from turrets because he had

This forces vets who don’t live in states where medicinal marijuana is legalized to get their cannabis from the black market. She also states that many vets who become severely addicted to the opioids they are prescribed microdose cannabis to deal with the withdrawal from these drugs. However, patients doing so in states where medicinal cannabis hasn’t yet been legalized are ultimately taking a huge risk due to the substance violating various pain medications’ terms of agreement. O’Connell mentions another example of a veteran who uses cannabis due to a difficulty of access to other treatment named Michiko. Michiko began suffering from PTSD when she was raped by her commander in a military hospital. She is highly dependent on fentanyl and gets triggered whenever she enters a hospital setting. This makes it extremely difficult for her to access conventional treatment. Veterans Affairs strongly advised Michiko to visit rehab as a part of her treatment, however she knows that its hospital-like setting would trigger her. She ultimately uses cannabis as an effective way to treat her withdrawals. The article concludes with Sisley urging for more research to be done on cannabis’s healing abilities for veterans suffering from PTSD since she claims that most studies related to cannabis focus solely on its safety as a substance. She

Recent years have brought about a rapid shift in the approach that many states take towards the utilization of medical marijuana. Currently, thirty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have legalized some form of medical marijuana. Despite this progress, federal policies continue to inhibit United States veterans from obtaining the relief that such laws provide to other citizens. There are many sobering statistics regarding the abnormally high rate of drug addiction and suicide among veterans. Currently, too many veterans suffering from lingering pain or post-traumatic

They include headaches, stomach pain, sleep problems, and chronic pain. Soldiers often struggle with reliving the war by having disturbing nightmares and flashbacks. This causes the body to go into a cold sweat and have an increased heart rate (Collins 5). According to a US Department of Defense study, “the veterans with PTSD were 77% more likely to develop dementia as those without it when risk factors related to Alzheimer’s disease were included” (Boyles 1). The physical ailments of PTSD often lead the veteran to rely on alcohol and pain medicines for extended periods of time, which leads to a battle of addiction. The US Department of Defense reports the rate for veteran prescription drug misuse is 11.7 %. This is drastically higher than the civilian rate by two-and-a-half times. While many veterans have serious physical issues, this study documents the blatant misuse of prescription

When people hear the word Marijuana, many think of it as a negative object, that is not necessarily the case. In some circumstances Medical Marijuana can help many people that have illnesses or conditions that can help them relieves their symptoms. Many states have already made Medical Marijuana legal and more states are fighting to have it legalize. For many years people have turned to medical marijuana instead of painkillers and opioids which could end the “opioid crisis”.

Marijuana should be a medicinal option because it relieves major chronic pain to many symptoms. According to the Herald Editorial board, Marijuana shows a great impact on pain, “from a widespread number of causes, including cancer, spinal cord injury and disease, severe spasms, post-traumatic stress disorder, nausea, glaucoma, Parkinson’s and other debilitating ailments.” This drug is useful, as patients at times cannot use certain drug due to allergies or other complications. Marijuana helps elevated those who suffer severe pain that other drugs cannot, but doctors still prescribe stronger and more addictive opiates that are legal. If marijuana was a legal drug for the purpose of medication, marijuana can potentially save lives. Marijuana should be prescribed as there are fewer side effects compared to the drugs prescribed by doctors. Why would the government not allow doctors to prescribe patients with extreme health issues that can potentially help elevate their pain. There are individuals who suffer from epilepsy, epilepsy is a condition that causes nerve cell activity to disturb the brain. At times individuals can have up to 10 seizures a day, at any given moment. Having 10 seizures a day at random times makes it difficult for them to go on with their day, but marijuana can decrease the amount seizures into one day. It’s remarkable on how marijuana can reduce the amount of seizures an epileptic person has. Marijuana needs to be an option for medical purposes for the amount of benefits it provides.

Many people have overdosed on medicine prescribed by a doctor, these man made medicine may even kill you, just one pill can end your life. Scientifically said, medical marijuana has cured many more illnesses and some infections than most prescribed medicine. Society should be more informed of Cannabis and not just negatively judge it because it is drug. Ads nowadays show Cannabis as a product that will hurt you and cause side effects in your body, but this my friend is incorrect, medical marijuana can benefit you in different ways; don’t judge a book by its cover. Society just label things to make them seems bad, evil, and harmful, but Medical Marijuana should be legalized for the health being of the people in the whole world, Cannabis is good for many reasons, and the following paper will blow your mind away.

Because of how so many of us look at medical marijuana, we make it really hard for families who need access to these medicines. Time and time again, family after family will have to give up everything they have so they can move to a state that allows them access to the medicine their children could not survive without. Veterans who come back broken from the wars are given prescription after prescription that turns them into zombies instead of something, that actually is known to treat anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms, all because it comes from a plant some people have a negative opinion

Medical marijuana is very a big and controversial issue in today's society, currently the community is divided on the issue. Questions are always being thrown around such as "how does marijuana affect the body?" and "what good does’ marijuana do for a person?" Researchers have tried to answer these questions with multiple studies and they have shown some of the positives of medical marijuana. If something is able to help someone who is in dire need why not use it on those people to find a better solution for them. I myself am on the supportive side of the issue of medical marijuana. I don't think it should be legal to just anyone though I believe there should be a legal age law, a driving while under the influence, and a public intoxication law in effect for medical marijuana to be legal.