Pubdate: Tue, 08 Apr 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Rob Hotakainen, The News Tribune

WAR VETERANS LOBBYING TO SMOKE POT TO EASE PTSD

Medical Marijuana Finding More Allies

Approval of Arizona Research Study Hailed

WASHINGTON - After flying helicopters in Vietnam, Perry Parks 
couldn't stop the panicked dreams.

"I was flying through wires all the time, and I never hit the wire," 
said Parks, 71, a retired military commander from Rockingham, N.C.

"I'm a helicopter pilot, so wires scare the hell out of you."

Parks, who has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), said he took 
sleeping pills for years after he retired. Then he found a more 
satisfying alternative: two or three bong hits at least three times a 
day. No more dreams.

Faced with a skyrocketing suicide rate in their ranks, many of the 
nation's veterans hope marijuana will be their salve. U.S. officials 
and veterans groups estimate that nearly 31 percent of Vietnam 
veterans and 20 percent of returning service members from Iraq and 
Afghanistan are grappling with PTSD.

Veterans like Parks increasingly are taking their cases to 
statehouses and to Capitol Hill.

In March, federal officials ended a three-year fight with a 
University of Arizona research team, agreeing to provide 
government-grown pot for a PTSD study.

Just days before, organizers had planned to mobilize veterans for a 
protest in Washington, D.C.

"It's the activism from veterans ... that's really moved this 
forward," said Suzanne Sisley, a clinical assistant professor of 
internal medicine and psychiatry at the University of Arizona's medical school.

She'll lead the study, which will give 50 veterans the equivalent of 
two joints per day.

Parks may have found his relief, but he's violating federal and state law.

The federal government's position is that marijuana has no medical 
value. And the North Carolina Legislature most recently rejected 
medical marijuana in 2013.

While thousands of Americans go to jail each year for violating 
marijuana laws, Parks is confident he won't get arrested.

When an officer at the North Carolina Statehouse once complained that 
he smelled pot upon Parks' arrival, Parks admitted that he had smoked 
and suggested that he be arrested, figuring it would produce a good 
public spectacle.

Parks said the officer told him: "You're not going to use law 
enforcement to further your efforts."

Al Byrne, a Navy veteran with PTSD who's also a cofounder of a 
Virginia nonprofit group called Patients Out of Time that promotes 
therapeutic uses of marijuana, said the federal government faced "a 
conundrum" after sending conflicting messages.

Notably, he said, the Veterans Affairs Department allows patients 
treated at its facilities to use medical marijuana as long as it's 
legal in the states where they live.

In Washington state, Rick Rosio, a medical-marijuana provider, said 
the country needed to move beyond political debates.

He's aiming to sign up 100,000 veterans for a program he's developed 
that he calls "compassionate care."

It would help them gain access to both marijuana and better job 
opportunities, he said.

Rosio said cannabis therapy could help many veterans reduce their 
dependency on opiates.

"Politics should not be played with veterans' suffering," said Rosio, 
of Spokane, who was sentenced last year to five years of probation on 
a felony charge of growing more than 50 pot plants. "And without 
question, the veterans carry a mighty voice."

Veterans groups say they've found a key ally in pushing their 
message: CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, who previously 
opposed medical marijuana, has done two in-depth reports on the issue.

"When it got on CNN, finally, the rest of the public was able to 
catch up," said Michael Krawitz, an Air Force veteran who heads 
Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access in Elliston, Va.

Sisley said her project won approval only days after one of Gupta's 
reports: "You can't ignore the time sequence here. " In many states, 
however, medical marijuana remains a tough sell.

After spending 30 years in the military, Parks has become a fierce 
advocate for his cause, personally lobbying more than 50 legislators 
in his home state and meeting with President Obama when the president 
visited Winston-Salem in 2010.

He hopes the Arizona study will help more veterans. "If there's any 
chance that it could be a positive influence, how could we wait this 
long?" Parks asked. "How long have we got to wait?"
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom