Recent Survey Finds That Most Veterans Believe That the Department of Veterans Affairs Should...

As a clinician for over 5 decades, I agree
rich

My thought is that there is a fine line between what people think "should" constitute the use of medical cannabis and the benefit someone is actually trying to achieve. Personally, I generally say no to its use because I know people who have taken advantage of the relaxed regulations in some states to be granted a recommendation (not a prescription). This is where that fine line goes out the window. Cannabis is becoming more and more of a problem than a solution and we either need to have the FDA approve and categorize it appropriately, or ban it nationwide. The promises made by the cannabis industry on the benefits of legalization have not materialized and instead made things worse. I quote the following article:

"Advocates promised safe and accurately labeled products, reduced addiction to opioids, smaller prison populations, surging tax revenue, and a socially responsible industry that prioritized people over profits. But all of those promises have turned out to be overstated or simply wrong."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/daily-use-of-cannabis-is-strongly-associated-with-chronic-inflammation-study-finds/ar-AA1EhptJ

Bottom line, the noted benefits in my opinion do not outweigh the long term effects to the same individual, and I personally do not like walking through most cities and towns where it is legalized (even for "medicinal purposes") and being overwhelmed by the smell when I walk out on the street. ONe might consider my perspective prudish, but the people who share my opinion (and we do represent a significant number of the American people) are less inclined to go to the city, spend money, etc. Not only that, I once lived in Colorado (CO Springs) before they legalized it. To this day I believe the city of Colorado Springs has kept it banned in city limits. However, it is not banned in Manitou Springs (literally next door), which used to be a nice quaint town for people who like to hike around Pike's Peak, visit the shops, etc... Today it looks run down, there are noticably an exponential number of homeless roaming thorugh the streets and parks, cannabis vendors every other store, and other than getting through the town to get to the tailheads, I want no part of it. In contrast, Colorado Springs didn't really change much. Still a nice somewhat sleepy little city where a lot of military people call home.

I realize we are talking about medicinal vs full legalization, but I believe using the VA is a means to get it legalized across the nation. No thank you. The VA is already known for throwing all sorts of drugs our way to manage pain, the last thing I want to see is all our Veterans getting stoned with the blessing of the VA.

Thanks for sharing.
I believe that the VA should provide medical cannabis treatment to eligible patients.