Sean almost died from his PTSD until he started using medical marijuana. He wants other vets to have the same chance, so he’s petitioning to lift the gag order that prevents VA doctors from discussing the drug with patients.
Everyday,
22 veterans take their own lives. In 2011, I was almost one of them.
Like many veterans, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic-stress-disorder
(PTSD) after serving with the Army where I witnessed violence and
had friends lose their lives. Despite having a loving family, my PTSD
was with me all the time and I was prescribed dozens of dangerous
pharmaceutical drugs that just made things worse.
I wanted the pain from my PTSD to stop so badly, I tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pain pills. Thankfully, I survived. Desperate to save my family and my life, I tried medical marijuana as treatment for my PTSD. I’m positive that without it, I wouldn’t be here today. Medical marijuana is the only thing that I’ve found helps my PTSD -- reducing stress, anxiety, and depression -- without all of the side effects of the pharmaceutical drugs I was on.
But veterans like me are not even able talk about medical marijuana with doctors at Veterans Affairs hospitals. That’s because the federal government actually has a gag order in place that prevents VA doctors from giving medical marijuana advice to patients, even if they know it would help treat the patient's PTSD or other illness.
I think that’s unacceptable. I’m proof that medical marijuana works and so are many other veterans who use it to treat their PTSD. Shouldn’t we at least be allowed to talk with our doctors about this?
An amendment in Congress would have lifted this gag order but it failed to pass by only three votes last month. But there’s hope -- President Obama can issue an executive order that lifts the gag order.
We’re not asking for much. We just think that at a minimum, veterans who served our country should be able to discuss medical marijuana with our doctors. In the time it took to create this petition, an estimated five veterans took their own lives. We need to do more.
Please sign my petition asking President Obama and Congress to take action.
I wanted the pain from my PTSD to stop so badly, I tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pain pills. Thankfully, I survived. Desperate to save my family and my life, I tried medical marijuana as treatment for my PTSD. I’m positive that without it, I wouldn’t be here today. Medical marijuana is the only thing that I’ve found helps my PTSD -- reducing stress, anxiety, and depression -- without all of the side effects of the pharmaceutical drugs I was on.
But veterans like me are not even able talk about medical marijuana with doctors at Veterans Affairs hospitals. That’s because the federal government actually has a gag order in place that prevents VA doctors from giving medical marijuana advice to patients, even if they know it would help treat the patient's PTSD or other illness.
I think that’s unacceptable. I’m proof that medical marijuana works and so are many other veterans who use it to treat their PTSD. Shouldn’t we at least be allowed to talk with our doctors about this?
An amendment in Congress would have lifted this gag order but it failed to pass by only three votes last month. But there’s hope -- President Obama can issue an executive order that lifts the gag order.
We’re not asking for much. We just think that at a minimum, veterans who served our country should be able to discuss medical marijuana with our doctors. In the time it took to create this petition, an estimated five veterans took their own lives. We need to do more.
Please sign my petition asking President Obama and Congress to take action.
Letter to
President Barack Obama
