{"id":5463,"date":"2017-11-06T10:31:24","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T15:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lcpllutzlivetotell.org\/?p=5463"},"modified":"2019-08-08T12:57:27","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:57:27","slug":"rawstory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/?p=5463","title":{"rendered":"Demand changes to VA policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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WATCH: Veterans say they \u2018wouldn\u2019t be here\u2019 without marijuana \u2014 and demand changes to VA policy against it<\/h4>\n
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SARAH K. BURRIS\u00a0<\/a>06 NOV 2017 AT 10:31 ET<\/a><\/div>\n
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Boone Cutler, a medically retired Army veteran who uses cannabis to navigate PTSD (Photo: Screen capture)<\/div>\n
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Veterans with PTSD are in a difficult position as the Veterans Administration denounces patients using marijuana to deal with health issues.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0interview<\/a>\u00a0with two veterans cite the man claiming the VA thinks \u201cyou are doing something bad\u201d when veterans turn from pharmaceuticals to marijuana.<\/p>\n

However, Joshua James Frey went so far as to say that without it he\u2019d be dead. He\u2019s a Marine Corps combat veteran of the Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment, who earned the Purple Heart when he was wounded during a tour in Iraq. He was shot twice in 2004, once from a rocket-propelled grenade and again a month later in his right shoulder. The wound that nearly cost him his life.<\/p>\n

During an American Legion press conference last week, Frey joined with the mother of another veteran who believes that her son would have been saved if he was using marijuana. The\u00a0American Legion has produced pages of study<\/a>\u00a0and testimony on the successes of marijuana usage to help shell-shocked veterans desperate for help.<\/p>\n

Boone Cutler, a medically retired Army veteran, who stayed \u201con the drugs\u201d for two years. He called the pharmaceutical regimine the \u201ccombat cocktail\u201d that turned him into a \u201czombie.\u201d He explained, \u201cyou are nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Janos \u201cJohnny\u201d Lutz\u2019s suicide was after suffering from survivor\u2019s guilt and depression when 14 of his fellow soldiers were killed in 2009 during Operation Khanjar in Helmand Province. His mother, Janine Lutz, partly blames the pharmaceutical industry after her son was diagnosed with severe PTSD and a brain injury. He was prescribed two dozen drugs including Klonopin. He took the drug in June 2010 and \u201cwithin a week, Johnny attempted suicide,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Do not give Mr. Lutz Klonopin\u201d was noted on his hospital charts, but the former soldier was never told the drug was responsible for his reaction. He thought that he was responsible for the suicidal thoughts and feelings, \u201cnot knowing that it was the medication that was messing with his mind,\u201d his mother said. Three months later he was given the drug again and once again attempted suicide.<\/p>\n

The same happened again in 2012, but this time Johnny was successful, overdosing on prescribed drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our hope that the story of my son, who was lost because of prescribed pharmaceuticals will open your hearts and minds to research, cannabis,\u201d Lutz said, trying not to cry. She went on to call it \u201cthe most safe and effective treatment for our veterans today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my son would be here today,\u201d she said,\u00a0if medical marijuana was available for veterans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Frey agrees, saying that he has been \u201cquiet\u201d about his medical marijuana use, but attributes it to his ability to live a normal life after combat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be here today. I wouldn\u2019t have kids today. I wouldn\u2019t have a beautiful wife I\u2019ve been married to for 13 years now,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I did before the war (in Iraq) mentally and \u2026 know this could help not just the veterans struggling, but it could help anyone struggling with addiction and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). It\u2019s time we all stand as one voice and truly move forward with real hard-lined research and move forward with real compassionate care,\u201d Frey continued.<\/p>\n

While 29 states, and Washington, D.C. in the U.S. allow medical marijuana, because the Veterans Administration is governed by federal laws, it can\u2019t recommend, prescribe or pay for marijuana prescriptions for desperate veterans. Use and possession of cannabis is also prohibited at all VA medical centers,\u00a0the VA\u2019s website details<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Katherine Mitchell in Phoenix explained that she \u201cwas not officially allowed to discuss the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether the establishment wants to recognize it or not, because marijuana use has moved into the mainstream, health-care providers have an ethical obligation to help our patients understand the potential positive and negative impacts marijuana could have on their health,\u201d she went on.<\/p>\n

Frey wants to \u201cstop the madness,\u201d hoping that events last the one last week can show lawmakers why the war on drugs should exempt marijuana and acknowledge it helps people overcome pain, PTSD and addiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get this stuff on the books. \u2026 It could help a lot of vets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

retrieved from:\u00a0https:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/2017\/11\/watch-veterans-say-they-wouldnt-be-here-without-marijuana-and-demand-changes-to-va-policy-against-it\/<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

back WATCH: Veterans say they \u2018wouldn\u2019t be here\u2019 without marijuana \u2014 and demand changes to VA policy against it SARAH K. BURRIS\u00a006 NOV 2017 AT 10:31 ET Boone Cutler, a medically retired Army veteran who uses cannabis to navigate PTSD (Photo: Screen capture) Veterans with PTSD are in a difficult …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cannabis","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}