Western Canada’s first medical marijuana support service focused on helping veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain

Just making a silly by repeating ASAP and putting this after it , nothing meant by it other than that.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm point taken but what am I ASAP'ing Firebird, as I stated I am the ignorant one cheers.

I'm with you Bruce let the battle begin

Firebird, I will fight the GOC tooth and nail on this issue to protect our quality of life. We do not deserve to be subjected to pills that adversely affect our lives.

Zoloft , 300mg per day caused erectile dysfunction.

As I've said before, I have been down the percocet, ativan, zoloft, lurazepam, flurazepam road and I was dehydrated, dopey, couldn't take a crap without a laxative, couldn't get an erection and couldn't take cialis or viagra because it affects my vision path.

I will not go through that again, as the MVA likes to say, FULL STOP. My life is better through cannabis, FULL STOP. I receive 5 grams per day. My life is more manageable and fulfilling with medical cannabis, FULL STOP.

I illegally self medicated with cannabis for years before getting a prescription for MM and I will not be forced into that again!

I agree with respect to medication , since I starting using Marijuana , I stopped taking medication.

No addiction is good, but if I had the choice between hard core medical pain killers versus MM, I would go with MM, hands down.

These pharmaceutical drugs can be highly addictive and the long term affects can be very harmful in every aspect.

Most of these studies and suggestions come from people who have a tunnel vision view of Cannabis, nothing will change their position.

Peter is off in my opinion on this topic.

ASAP this , LOL. I have a prescription for 2 grams a day and I am not able to use that much so for me 10 grams is excessive. I hope I do not get addicted but I believe that I will because I like the feeling of relaxation and numbness.

Medical Marijuana what do I know, to be honest absolutely nothing, so why comment on this new “Veteran Feel Good Medicinal Wonder” because I want to be educated and being ignorant to this subject is not a good place to be.
Here is what I know and this is what I see. Many of my friends while serving did and still use cannabis daily. Many former soldiers that I hung and hang with still use cannabis as a “high” accelerant to combat PTSD or emotional indifference and now they tell me it combats pain. I don’t care about the cost as some of our anti-psychotic meds run into the hundreds per month. It’s not about anything other than fueling an addiction that already persists in our veteran community.  10 grams seems to be the norm along with the depression/pain meds and the alcohol this is an “Atomic Bomb” that will plot its course across this nation post-haste. If you are pissed at my ignorance so be it I have huge shoulders and a huge medical history of depression and physical pain to back up my concerns. Broken back (twice), severe disk and torso displacement, ankles that scream at my knees to get the hell off at the next 4 hour interval and a severe case of hyper alertness that has given me super human hearing. Yet never once have I wanted to partake in any medicinal marijuana experience, does this make me better than you, I sure hope not. It means I am very afraid of the outcome of addiction while trying to right this broken ship.
I do think that this venture needs to be addressed ASAP.

Sorry for the spelling and grammar mistakes IM HIGH !!!!

Totally agree Bruce I for one know for a fact that MM has made my life a lot better why is it every time someone new gets a position to deal with vetrans and there mental health needs and of course pain they become a so called expert in the MM field and tell us what is best ( money) of course I use to take 12 pills a day but sence I've started using MM these pills are not in my life and I'm very happy for that and to say they should have somebody sit down with us to talk about it just what a vetran needs after a doctor has already prescribed the MM for his injuries is total nonsense lord frack they are already back logged over 11000 claims for benifits clean up the mess you already have you fracking morons before you start making more it all comes down to MONEY MONEY MONEY and of course more jobs MR STOFFER LEAVE THINGS ALONE

I'm sick and tired of bureaucrats, politicians and so-called medical experts who have no vested interest other than money or attention having an opinion on veterans and our use of medical cannabis to treat what ails us.

The only experts on the subject are veterans who use medical cannabis. What part of, "cannabis has made my life more manageable and fulfilling" than pills, do these people not understand?

Veterans allowed too much pot, says former NDP MP Peter Stoffer.

'10 grams a day is an awful lot of marijuana ... It is an incredible amount'

Oct 23, 2016

Former NDP MP and critic for veterans affairs Peter Stoffer is now working as public affairs advocate for Trauma Healing Centres, which helps veterans, first responders and others who have PTSD or chronic pain. He says Veterans Affairs allows too much medical pot.

Former NDP MP Peter Stoffer agrees that medical cannabis can have benefits for veterans, but says he's worried about the amount of cannabis former soldiers are allowed under Veterans Affairs Canada rules.

Stoffer, who was veterans affairs critic for the NDP until he was defeated in the 2015 election, believes that the high level of medical marijuana allowed by Veterans Affairs — up to 10 grams a day — is fostering overuse.

"Ten grams a day is an awful lot of marijuana to give one person. It is an incredible amount."

Stoffer is now public affairs advocate for Trauma Healing Centres, a company that works with veterans, first responders and others dealing with trauma and chronic pain. While he says cannabis can help veterans who are suffering, he says the goal is to help manage their pain, not to get them high.

"That's simply not the way to go. You're not helping that person at all. You're not giving them any chance of recovery. All you're really doing is masking the pain that they're suffering," Stoffer said.

The Trauma Healing Centres offer counselling as well as medical cannabis consultations.

"What you need to do is really sit down with these individuals, and long before you dispense any marijuana, look at their lifestyle: what are they doing, what are they eating, where do they live, how is their financial situation, how is their personal situation?" he added.

Veterans Affairs doesn't actually give veterans medical marijuana, but the department allows them to be compensated for up to 10 grams a day through insurance. Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr said back in March that he was launching an internal review of medical marijuana policy, after data showed the number of prescriptions had increased tenfold in two years.

The auditor general also expressed concern that 10 grams was too much in his spring 2016 report.

Auditor general wants better monitoring

"This is double the amount identified as being appropriate in Veterans Affairs Canada's consultations with external health professionals, and more than three times the amount that Health Canada has reported as being most commonly utilized by individuals for medical purposes," the report said.

The auditor's report also pointed out that while Veterans Affairs manages the only publicly funded plan that covers medical marijuana, "it does not monitor trends that may suggest high-risk utilization."

At least one veterans' group takes issue with Stoffer's position.

"No bureaucrat is entitled to get between a patient and a doctor," said Michael Blais of Canadian Veterans Advocacy. "If that physician has written out a script for whatever, it is Veterans Affairs Canada's obligation to fulfil that script if it relates to the wound. End of story. There's no limitations."

Blais said he takes six grams of marijuana a day to help with complex neurological pain. He said his marijuana has very low counts of THC, which means he doesn't get high. However, Blais said it has helped him get off narcotic painkillers.

He's upset by Stoffer's suggestion that doctors are prescribing too much medical pot.

"We have to understand that these men and women have sustained serious, life-altering trauma in many cases," and that medical marijuana has given them hope.

"And now that they've found relief, now that there's an alternative there, for anyone who is not in pain, who has not sacrificed, to come out and make arbitrary statements on dosage, that — without even looking at [a] man's medical record or talking to his doctor, is ludicrous," Blais said.

Pot for post-traumatic stress

​Stoffer and Blais both agree with veterans using cannabis to help with post-traumatic stress disorder. However the Canadian Forces has said there's not enough proof to authorize marijuana as a treatment for PTSD and that some evidence suggests it could be harmful.

It's unclear how many veterans use medical marijuana to treat PTSD or operational stress injuries. Veterans Affairs said in March that it doesn't track the underlying conditions behind prescriptions.

Stoffer said he's seen many veterans whose lives were turned around by using cannabis to treat PTSD. He believes the anecdotal evidence of its effects, combined with whatever scientific data is available, should be enough for the government.

"I believe so. But don't take my word for it, take the word of the veterans who are on medical cannabis and what it's done for them."

A doctor would have to prescribe marijuana in order for Veterans Affairs to cover the costs, but the auditor general also raised questions about the practice.

​It analyzed the data for a nine-month span in 2015 and found that just four doctors authorized more than half the medical marijuana claims.

Stoffer added that he'd like to see monitoring by Veterans Affairs to see if the medications they covered are actually helping veterans in the way they were intended.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stoffer-medical-pot-ptsd-1.3813735