"PTSD & Pot: Veterans making Memorial Day push for legal marijuana"

The title of this post is the title of this lengthy new Fox News article. Regular readers know I have, since starting this blog more nearly five years ago, regularly blogged about a range of issues relating to veterans and their access to marijuana (a dozen of recent posts on this topic are linked below). As I have said before and will say again, I feel a genuine and deep debt to anyone and everyone who serves this nation through the armed forces, and I feel especially strongly on a day like Memorial Day that veterans should be able to have safe and legal access to any and every form of medicine that they and their doctors reasonably believe could help them with any ailments or conditions. Here is part of the start of the Fox News piece:

Veterans from across the country will be gathering in our nation's capital on Memorial Day this year to not only honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but to advocate for a cause that isn't typically associated with our nation's heroes -- the legalization of marijuana.

The veterans and advocates taking part in the Memorial Day Veterans Rally DC hope to change the stigma that surrounds cannabis, the preferred term for marijuana among advocates, by arguing that this alternative medicine is already helping some vets treat issues like PTSD, chronic pain and depression -- all without the use of dangerous & addictive prescription drugs like opioids. One of their rallying cries is "plants over pills," and they're not just coming from the usual legal pot hot-spots like Colorado....

Beyond a lack of access in all 50 states, advocates say one of the biggest problems is that veterans are forced to pay for this alternative treatment out of pocket, despite what they say are life-saving results. That's due to Department of Veterans Affairs regulations which stipulate VA doctors still cannot prescribe medicinal marijuana to patients, despite the fact that they are allowed to "discuss marijuana use with veterans as part of comprehensive care planning."

Some recent prior related posts:

• New American Legion survey documents strong support among veteran households for medical marijuana
• "As Trump wages war on legal marijuana, military veterans side with pot"
• "More and More US Veterans are Smoking Weed to Treat Their PTSD"
• Examining pot's potential for treatment of veterans' PTSD problems
• Will Prez-Elect Donald Trump make it legal and easier for veterans to have access to medical marijuana?
• American Legion urges federal government to reschedule marijuana
• Veterans group gets attention when urging Trump team to seek to reschedule marijuana
• American Legion, the largest US vets' organization, pressing Trump Administration on medical marijuana reform
• "Study: Can marijuana improve PTSD symptoms for veterans?"
• "Make Pot Legal for Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury"
• Interesting look at veterans getting involved in the marijuana industry
• Head of Veterans Affairs acknowledges marijuana may be "helpful" to veterans