American Legion adopts resolution supporting medical marijuana
Source: Stars and Stripes
By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: August 24, 2017
RENO, Nev. – The American Legion adopted a resolution Thursday urging the federal government to allow Department of Veterans Affairs doctors to discuss and recommend medical marijuana in states where it’s legal, adding to the group’s efforts to get cannabis in the hands of veterans it could help.
The resolution, passed at the group’s national convention in Reno, Nevada, was authored by American Legion member Rob Ryan of Blue Ash, Ohio. According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ohio has the fourth highest rate of overdose deaths in the nation, behind West Virginia, New Hampshire and Kentucky. It’s also one of the 29 states that permit some form of cannabis use. Ryan said he’s heard from veterans “over and over and over again” who use marijuana as an alternative to addictive opioids.
“Our state congressmen, when the American Legion says something, they listen. Hopefully, this will have the same impact at the federal level,” Ryan said. “People should not be afraid to go to their doctors and talk honestly.”
Ryan shepherded the resolution through his local American Legion post, and then took it to the county, district and state level before it was discussed in Reno this week. Sue Sisley, a psychiatrist studying marijuana’s effects on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, called it a “game changer.”
Read more: https://www.stripes.com/news/us/american-legion-adopts-resolution-supporting-medical-marijuana-1.484362#.WZ-gByh97IU
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