Don’t Let the DEA Ban Recommending Medical Marijuana for Veterans

The Veterans Administration is taking advice from the DEA based on the federal government’s assertion that marijuana has no medicinal value. This especially tragic because of the widespread evidence that marijuana is a safe and effective treatment for post traumatic stress disorder which is all too common among our veterans.

Study on Brain Processing May Lead to PTSD Treatment

ShareMedical researchers and veterans advocates eagerly await the findings of  a University of Wisconsin-Madison study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) focusing on how brains process anxiety and anticipation. From a November 2009 UW-Madison press release, UW-Madison Launches Study of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, drawing increased attention as troops are coming home.
Madison, Wisconsin – Why do some [...]

Silent Wounds: The True Signature Wound of the War on Terror

Our country is in the middle of a health care crisis, the likes of which we have never experienced. At the center of this crisis is a silent wounding of our armed forces that often goes unrecognized. If you believe the Rand Corporation’ s estimates, silent wounding may be affecting as many as 640,000 veterans.

Marijuana Provides Pain Relief, New Study Says

ShareCommon knowledge backed by an increasing body of medical science may just trump taboo morality and ignorance. From the Huffington Post: 
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The first U.S. clinical trials in more than two decades on the medical benefits of marijuana confirm pot is effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused [...]

Army Report: PTSD up – Combat wounds not the leading cause of Medevacs

ShareAmerican soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were more likely to be medically evacuated for health problems such as a bad back than for combat injuries, says a new study published last week in the British medical journal, Lancet. However experts noted that the large number of Soldiers with chronic physical pain was likely masking an [...]

Benefits Eligibility Extended

At least 4,300 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who left the military because of post-traumatic stress disorder are eligible to have their cases reviewed to see if they were improperly denied benefits, a nonprofit veterans group said. The group, National Veterans Legal Services Program, said the law required service members who had been separated from the military at least in part because of post-traumatic stress must receive disability ratings of at least 50 percent to receive benefits.

PTSD and Force Readiness

ShareBy  THOMAS C. HALL, CHAIR, Vietnam Veterans of America, PTSD/SUBSTANCE ABUSE COMMITTEE
Suicide rates in the active military and among veterans are on the rise. Military Sexual Trauma (MST) continues at epidemic proportions, and under-diagnosed traumatic brain injury (TBI) ensures a future of pain for veterans and their families. Homelessness and incarceration await too many of [...]

My Struggle with P.T.S.D: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Buzz words for the Epoch. In some small or major way we will all have experienced P.T.S.D in some form and to some degree in our life times. I first experienced P.T.S.D when I was all but 14 years of age as a young cadet with a militia group – the B.C.D.s (British Columbia Dragoons Army Cadet Corp.)