Pubdate: Tue, 05 Jan 2016
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Allan Woods
Page: A4

POT A LIFELINE FOR SOME AILING VETERANS

Medical marijuana helped former soldier deal with anger and land
civilian job

It took six deaths on Easter Sunday, 2007, for Noah Starr's life to
unravel.

It would take five years, thousands of pills, lost relationships and
the discovery of medical marijuana before he won back some semblance
of control.

"People call marijuana a gateway drug and it absolutely is. It's been
the gateway to my recovery," said the former Canadian Armed Forces
combat engineer from Fredericton, N.B.

"I've had times when I was in the hospital because I didn't know where
to turn."

Starr, now 31, can trace his troubles through the dust and dirt of
Afghanistan to a road about 75 kilometres west of Kandahar City. It
was there on April 8, 2007, that an improvised explosive device rocked
a Light Armoured Vehicle carrying Sgt. Donald Lucas of the 2nd
Batallion of the Royal Canadian Regiment and the five other soldiers.

Starr, whose job was to inspect Kandahar's routes for roadside bombs,
was working with another team a short distance away and was among the
first to respond.

"It hit really close to home because I was wearing the exact same
uniform that these guys were wearing."

He kept coming back to the attack in his head. He chastised himself
for feeling lucky that his friends had been switched out of the convoy
at the last minute. The pictures of the dead men, the pictures of
their families and the images of recently delivered Valentine's Day
cards etched themselves into Starr's mind.

He put on a brave face, telling a Canadian reporter nearly two months
later that, "I feel we are making an incredible difference. You know,
just seeing kids on the street waving to us."

But Starr was acutely aware he was suffering psychological problems
and he told his superiors he needed help. Help, at that point in the
Afghan mission, was a prescription for medication and access to a
social worker to help him deal with his health needs while overseas.
He trusted then that the military was equipped to help him deal with
his difficulties.

It wasn't until September 2007, when he returned to CFB Gagetown in
New Brunswick and found there were only two psychiatrists available
for the entire 2,000-member battle group that had just returned from
war, that his confidence was rattled.

"It took me six months before I even saw a doctor," he said. "It
wasn't until January of 2008 that I had a working diagnosis of PTSD.
It was almost a year before a doctor said, 'You've got PTSD. We're
going to start you on a program.' "

The program was built upon a cocktail of prescribed drugs to help him
sleep, to deal with depression and to tamp down his anxiety.

"At my worst point there were about six different drugs at one time,"
Starr said. "If I ever forgot these drugs, I would get a wicked
withdrawal reminder and my quality of life was almost
non-existent."

That regimen, which also included one year of anger-management
therapy, continued for years, during which Starr said he was twice
denied a transfer to one of the military's Joint Personnel Support
Units, created as a way station for ill and injured personnel. He
wanted to return to Vancouver - he and his then girlfriend's hometown
- - so that she could have family help with their two children while he
dealt with his psychological problems.

Instead, Starr was kept at CFB Gagetown where he said that the heavy
doses of sleeping pills he was prescribed caused him to be chronically
late for work, eventually provoking the ire of his superior officers.

Those problems ended only in December 2012, when Starr was released
from the military. He was judged "unsuitable for further service"
because of personal problems "within his control" that had made him
"an excessive administrative burden" to the military.

Starr had lost his mental health, his family and now his career.
Preparing for life as a civilian, he began looking for a new
treatment. He examined psychedelic drugs such as LSD and ecstasy,
which have been shown to have some benefit in PTSD therapies.

He finally settled on marijuana, which he at first had to purchase
illegally off the street - a transaction that only heightened his
anxiety because of the fear of unknown substances or arrest.

"Even that stuff did have a wonderful effect on me," he
said.

The marijuana was also a brake for Starr's uncontrollable anger, which
would be set off by the slightest provocations. "The second that it
touches my lungs it just washes out of me. It just goes away and I
can't describe it in any other way. It just melts off me," he said.

Since early 2013, he has not touched any pharmaceutical drugs. He is
still separated from his former girlfriend and not allowed to see his
children - a painful consequence of his problems that he said he is
working to repair. But he now runs a property management company and
works as a marijuana mentor for CannaConnect, a company that helps
veterans obtain prescriptions and benefits for medical marijuana.

"My life will never be normal. I've come to terms with that," he said.
"But it's as normal as I think it can be."
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MAP posted-by: Matt