Pubdate: Fri, 28 Sep 2012
Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Gazette
Contact: http://www.gazette.com/sections/opinion/submitletter/
Website: http://www.gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/165
Author: John Schroyer

VETERANS' GROUP RALLIES FOR MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

A small but determined group of veterans gathered before the downtown
Colorado Springs courthouse on Thursday to demand that those with
post-traumatic stress disorder be allowed to use medical marijuana.

The rally was organized to announce a new campaign, "Veterans for 64."
Amendment 64, which would legalize marijuana, is on the Nov. 6 ballot.
The group was formed because veterans say the state has denied a plea
to allow PTSD victims to get prescriptions for medical marijuana.

About a dozen veterans at the gathering waved signs at cars, with
slogans such as "marijuana saves veterans."

Several speakers said that medical marijuana has helped veterans cope
with pain, war-related and otherwise, and that those benefits should
be extended to those with PTSD.

The problem is that the Colorado Department of Health and Environment,
protesters said, has denied a petition submitted four months ago to
add PTSD to the list of conditions for which medical marijuana can be
used. They say the state also hasn't held a required public hearing on
the matter.

And they're not happy about it.

The department "maintains an obstructionist policy," said Joseph
Hatcher, a veteran with PTSD.

Medical marijuana can be invaluable to PTSD sufferers, Hatcher said,
and called cannabis "a conduit to take you into the regular world."

State health department spokesman Mark Salley said the protesters are
off-base, and that the department has up to 180 days - roughly two
more months in this case - to respond to a petition. To succeed, he
said, a petition must include a scientific study demonstrating that
medical marijuana has benefits.

Salley added that it seems unlikely that this petition would succeed,
since another one submitted in recent years was rejected.

But Brian Vicente, a lawyer for the Amendment 64 campaign, said the
recent petition included 18 pages of studies, and that the department
is skirting the law.

One veteran with PTSD said he's been able to get a medical marijuana
card because he also suffers from chronic pain, and that he would
"absolutely" recommend it.

"Without it, I couldn't walk," said 52-year-old Paul Sotello, who
moved to Colorado from Arkansas to take advantage of medical marijuana.

He said that he'd had a herniated disc in his back from a motorcycle
accident on an Air Force base and that he hadn't been able to walk for
two years. Cannabis not only relieved the pain, it helped keep him
sane, he said.

Another veteran at the rally, Douglas Szklarski, who has chronic pain
in both knees, his back and his pelvis, said that medical marijuana
should be permitted for PTSD as well as other ailments for former troops.

"With the opiates they had me on before this, I couldn't even get out
to the mailbox," he said. "Cannabis brought me back to life."
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