From Sharing Stories to Saving Lives
Our message is a simple one: Medical cannabis saves lives, and veterans deserve full, legal access.
Help us change the conversation about medical cannabis by applying to become a local advocate – or VCP Force Commander – in the fight for veterans’ cannabis access. Only through stories like yours will policymakers and the public understand the transformative, life-saving health treatment value of cannabis for veterans.
Improving the Lives of Those Who Protected Ours
America’s prolonged military conflicts over the past 17 years have exposed an aging and ineffective health care system, ill-prepared for the type and severity of the latest round of war-related injuries. Upwards of 20 percent of the 2.7 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will experience post-traumatic stress or depression, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA is not equipped to effectively or comprehensively treat the complexity of every veteran’s mental and physical wounds, leaving former service members to cope with limited and inadequate treatment options. Veterans are often placated with “cocktails” of prescription drugs, including powerful and addictive opiates. The current arrangement is not meeting veterans’ healthcare needs.
Medical cannabis is a proven, safe and common-sense personal health management option, free of the devastating side effects of opiate-based drugs. It is now legal in 36 states plus D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands and is recognized by experts such as the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association and the American Nurses Association as a safer alternative to many federally legal treatments. Medicinal cannabis is an incredibly effective tool for veterans challenged with managing the symptoms of their wounds.
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"Thank you for doing this. Cannabis is the only way I've managed to deal with my pain and social anxiety successfully without opioids and benzos."
- David R.
"I am a retired MSG from the Army, I finally got my 100% Total and Permanent and I used Cannabis to get off Oxycodone after spinal surgery. I moved to New Mexico last August to be allowed legal Medical Cannabis. I'm alive because of pot, so I will help other veterans and would love to testify before Congress or the President."
- Johnny A. MSG USA (retired)
"I'm a fellow vet who's lost friends to the opioid problem. (I'm) someone who sees cannabis as a healthy, alternative treatment for multiple medical issues..."
- David S. (Former 0351 Sergeant USMC)
"I'm a veteran who is battling cancer. Marijuana helps with pain, sleep, appetite and anxiety, as reported in studies on the National Institute of Health website. I'm behind this project. Thanks for letting me be a part of it."
- Nancy P.
"I suffer from PTSD and had nothing but trouble when I finally reached out for help. I drowned my nightmares in alcohol and eventually attempted two suicides. I decided to do some research on alternative medications and found the answers I was looking for. Once I began medicating alternatively and safely I began to feel like myself again and was in control of my thoughts and reactions."
- Daniel R.
"I feel that marijuana is an amazing thing and much better than pumping pills into our vets. I did 10 years in the USMC. I would love to be a part of what you're doing and hear more about everything."
- J