INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana American Legion passed a resolution on Sunday that would support medical marijuana research to treat common injuries to service members such as PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
The veteran service organization said they are working to push Indiana legislators to approve the private growth and research of marijuana for medical purposes and to reduce and reclassify marijuana as a drug with potential medical value.
“Our members have made the decision through the voting process to urge our state legislature to look into the benefits of medical marijuana in treating veteran related conditions like PTSD and TBI,” said Department of Indiana Cmdr. James B. May. “PTSD and TBI are the signature wounds of Post 9/11 veterans. We support the medical research of marijuana to find if there are any alternatives to treating these conditions.”
Indiana’s American Legion currently has over 81,500 members.
One of those members, Jeff Staker, has created a website called Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis.
The HVMC's Mission is listed as :
“To inform, educate, lobby, support and maintain legislation for the “legal” Medical use of Cannabis within the state of Indiana. In addition, when we have fought and won for the legalization of Medical Cannabis, HVMC will work with our legislators to continuously review, revise and update legislation as may be necessary from time to time.”
Last summer, the national American Legion, headquartered in Indianapolis, asked congress to remove marijuana from a list of drugs with no medical purpose.
“We in no way condone the illegal use of marijuana or any other drug,” May said. “We are focused on bettering the lives of our fellow veterans, and we believe they are worth conducting the research.”
The American Legion’s decision to support this research isn't without reason. They said many veterans have been prescribed opioid-based painkillers as part of their treatment plans which has resulted in addiction and drug abuse in large numbers.
Recent statistics show that someone dies every 20 minutes from either an accidental or intentional overdose of prescription pain medication, according to the HVMC, and two out of every three of those overdoes are veterans.
Their hope is that with the legalization of medical marijuana in Indiana, those numbers would change for the better.
“If it helps one veteran, if it prevents one veteran from dying from prescription overdoes, or from becoming addicted to opioid based prescription drugs, then the research is worth it,” said May.
