Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jul 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Todd Mitchem
Note: Todd Mitchem  is cofounder and CEO of 
HighThere!, a dating app for pot smokers.

POT FOR PTSD ISN'T ANECDOTAL

Re: "Pot for PTSD rightly rejected," July 16 editorial.

How can The Denver Post and so many professionals in the medical 
profession simply ignore the facts around cannabis and how it helps 
people suffering from all types of PTSD? To say the heartfelt stories 
of people testifying and the countless vets who tell us cannabis 
helps them cope with the impact of trauma are "anecdotal" is just archaic.

I recently spent a day in Oregon with vets who were being given 
education, advice and, yes, free cannabis. As a volunteer for this 
effort, I got a chance to talk to the hundreds of vets who 
participated. Their stories were real and their emotions powerful. 
They felt that modern medicine has turned its back on them and that 
cannabis is the best and safest alternative for their mental well-being.

When a person suffering from any form of PTSD tells you that cannabis 
kept them from killing themselves, that is not anecdotal evidence. 
When a veteran tells you that the only substance that helps him sleep 
peacefully for the first time in 40 years, that is not anecdotal. 
These are real people with real conditions, and cannabis helps them. 
This is fact.

Mental illness and mental trauma are conditions society often ignores 
until it is too late. Many medical professionals sit by idle as more 
and more veterans commit suicide each day. If a person suffering with 
PTSD commits suicide, we as a society did not do enough to support them.

I will continue to work with key organizations like Operation Grow 
for Vets that are actually working to help people recover from these 
terrible and difficult scenarios. I will continue to dedicate my 
company's time, people and energy to helping this cause.

My message to you all out there suffering, reach out to me, to 
others, and know that you are not alone. There are some people who 
want to help you. That is not anecdotal; it's fact!
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom