Should military veterans be allowed to use medical marijuana regardless of which state they live?

Question

Many veterans are returning home with injuries and pain. They are prescibed legal medicine but prescription medicine can have adverse effects on people (military members are no exception).

If someone fought and wore the uniform, should they be allowed to use marijuana if they (the service members) say marijuana helps with their pain?

I know an ex military guy who was injured during service. He said pain pills (naproxyn/aleve) caused intestinal bleeding so he couldn't use pills anymore, yet he finds relief in marijuana for pain and inflammation. He has a college degree and a 3.2 GPA. He used marijuana throughout his college time and he did very well.

Should veterans and active members be allowed to use marijuana for relief? He said LOTS of people in the military drink alcohol heavily but they are mostly responsible. He knows plenty active members who use marijuana responsibly also, but they have to be sneaky about it.

QUESTION: Should marijuana users in the military be criminalized?

Answer 1

Absolutely. ANY American should have the legal right to effective, low cost medicine. But the large pharmaceutical lobbyists in Washington are doing their job to keep their product marketable and most importantly, PROFITABLE. By keeping their products legal and downplaying the significance of the natural medicinal purposes of our good God's herb, they are cornering markets. Washington lets it happen because of the huge income they enjoy from taxing the industry. The economics are simple. If marijuana was legal then people could grow their own...eliminating a heavy stream of tax money. The favoritism doesn't stop at the federal government. It happens just as easily on a state and local level as well. Millions of dollars in donations (bribes) are made to politicians and factions of our government from special interest groups (lobbyists) to push their product. We're on the same internet. Do some research.

Answer 2

Why should someone be given special priviledges because they are a veteran? I myself recieved an injury in the military that affects my daily life, but I have to treat it in legal ways just like everyone else.

Members of the military fight to uphold the freedoms and rights we have in this country. We have those freedoms and rights because we do follow the laws set forth. Breaking those laws just for convenience is like a slap in the face to the people currently serving to uphold them. Medicinal marijuana is illegal. There are other pain control methods that could alleviate his symptoms. I see a chiropractor who specializes in muscle manipulation for my injury. There are pressure points that ease pain. There are other natural pain killers that he could take. Maybe he didn't do well with Aleve or Naproxen, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't try other ways that are within the law.

Answer 3

Only if there is enough scientific data for the FDA to review and determine that this is a 'safe and effective' treatment for that medical condition.

Otherwise - medical marijuana is BS just like all the other pseudo-science 'herbal remedies.'

Answer 4

Yes, this is just another excuse to legalese drugs, also there are many side effects that have to be taken into consideration:

Campaigners pressed the Government to reclassify cannabis as new evidence emerged that the drug could more than double the risk of psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Research found any use of cannabis - which means even taking the drug just once - was associated with a 41% greater risk.

People who smoked the most cannabis were the most likely to suffer a psychotic breakdown marked by delusions, hallucinations or disordered thoughts. For frequent users, the risk rose to between 50% and 200%.

In the wake of the research, published today in The Lancet medical journal, there were calls for the Government to reverse its decision to downgrade cannabis to a class C drug.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "The Lancet report justifies Sane's campaign that downgrading a substance with such known dangers masked the mounting evidence of direct links between the use of cannabis and later psychotic illness.

"This analysis of 35 studies should act as a serious warning of the dangers of regular or heavy cannabis use, doubling the risk of developing later schizophrenia, a condition in which a person may hear voices and experience strange thoughts and paranoid delusions."

Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "On the basis of the scientific and medical evidence available alone, the Government should reverse their disastrous policy of declassifying this harmful drug."

The study is likely to have a big impact on the Government's deliberations about cannabis. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is now considering whether cannabis should be returned to its previous status as a class B drug. Under Tony Blair's premiership, the drug was downgraded from class B to class C, so possession ceased to be an arrestable offence.

Alternatively, a class B rating could be reserved just for the extra-potent form of cannabis known as "skunk".
But Paul Corry, director of public affairs at mental health charity Rethink, said education about the dangers of cannabis was more important than reclassification.
A single cannabis joint can damage the lungs as much as smoking up to five cigarettes in one go, according to experts.

Scientists warn that the drug forces the lungs to work harder by obstructing air flow and causes chest tightness and wheezing.

It also damages the small vessels that transport oxygen around the lungs.

The news comes after research published last week showed that cannabis could more than double the risk of psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Researchers in New Zealand investigating lung damage found that the harm was directly related to the number of joints smoked, with higher consumption linked to greater incapacity.

The effect on the lungs of each joint was equivalent to smoking between 2.5 and five cigarettes in one go, they said
They added that the extent of the damage was dependent on the strength of the joint and the way it was smoked.

Dr Keith Prowse, chairman of the British Lung Foundation, said: "This research confirms that cannabis poses a serious health risk to the lungs and smoking a joint can be more harmful to the lungs than smoking a cigarette.

"It's important to remember, though, that tobacco continues to be more harmful overall because it is typically smoked in much higher quantities than cannabis."

Martin Barnes, chief executive of Drug-Scope, said:
"Although there is a lot of focus on the links between cannabis use and mental health problems, this research highlights the fact that cannabis can also be harmful to physical health."

Heavy cannabis use among vulnerable young people exacerbates their social problems more than the user realises, according to a new study.

A report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found that when various aspects of users lives were probed in detail that associations between their use and problems such as unemployment, educational under-achievement and homelessness became apparent.

The report found those with the greatest number of social problems tended to use most heavily.

Researchers, drawing on 100 interviews with 16 to 25-year-olds who used the drug every day for the past six months, found the consequences were relatively benign for those in higher or further education.

Dr Margaret Melrose, the report's author, said:

"Young people may not be aware of the extent to which cannabis use might exacerbate their existing social problems, and professionals who have had experience of cannabis users in the past may assume the effects are relatively harmless if they take young people's assessment of the impact of cannabis use in their lives at face value.

"More probing may be required in order to explore the level and nature of cannabis use and how this may be adding to a young person's problems."

Answer 5

Because you served in the military does not give you the right to ignore the law in civilian life.
I was in the service and never expected any special treatment when I came back.

Answer 6

Yes. If we can legally buy and sell other herbal remedies why not marijuana.
My belief is that marijuana has great medical benefits versus any negative impact on our society.

Answer 7

If they put up with the s**t they've had to deal with, they should be given free marijuana.

Answer 8

Every adult should be allowed to use medical marijuana regardless of what state they live in.