Case of the Moment, Apr 18, 2008

Medical Cannabis Helps Iraq War Veteran

      Today I saw another Iraq War veteran, a young man, 24 years old.  Small, thin, blond-haired.  Nervous.

      He told me he suffers from PTSD and chronic pain.  He started talking about his experiences.  He was involved in the second attack on Fallujah.  His best friend died in his arms.  He himself was shot, and the same bullet that passed through his own body, not far from the testicles, miraculously not hitting major organs or vessels, hit his best friend (since childhood), and caused a death he couldn’t stop.  He cried as he said he couldn’t tell the friend’s parents how he died. 

      This is not the first time I’ve heard this type of story. 

      He continued  to cry as he said he had killed women and children, some of whom had weapons and some of whom didn’t.  He couldn’t always tell at first, and instructions were to protect himself and his fellow soldiers.

      He suffered night terrors every night. 

      Helicopters in the city triggered flashbacks of being in Iraq.  All the horrors of the battlefield, emotionally, returned and aren’t easy to shake off.

      He said he doesn’t want to go to VA.  They just want to give pharmaceuticals that just make him feel worse.  He doesn't trust that they have his interests in mind, much less his best interests. This is not the first time I've heard this.  Veterans are even taking this to court.

      The only thing that makes him feel better is cannabis.  Cannabis enables him to sleep, and it prevents the night terrors.  Cannabis helps him shake off the flashbacks.  It relieves the pain from the gun shot wound and other injuries.

      In the office, a treatment with Alpha-Stim brought significant relief, and though Veteran's Administration is beginning to issue Alpha-Stim to veterans, he didn't want to go to VA at all.