U.S. Army veteran Art Gutierrez served in Iraq from 2006 to 2008. Two years later, he described a period in his life of uncertainty. Prior to readjusting to civilian life, Gutierrez knew where he had to be for 6 a.m. physical training, he knew what his job was and where his home was and that he was always welcome with his brothers and sisters in arms.
That changed once he got out of the Army.
“This feeling was completely terrifying. I felt as though I couldn’t express weakness but I was personally going through a lot. After the service, I went through a divorce and my life fell apart as a veteran,” Gutierrez said. “I remember, for a few moments, I thought of just letting the steering wheel go while I was driving. I felt ashamed for even contemplating suicide, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
Normal medication didn’t seem to help his recovery. He said he knew friends who served with him who had already taken their own lives.
The Department of Veterans Affairs reports an average of 20 veterans die from suicide daily. Gutierrez said he was heading toward a similar fate. He was on disability and a fixed income from Veterans Assistance which goes toward housing and medical expenses. He also said the VA system was not equipped to handle and provide proper care for veterans.
“The VA prescribes pills or opioids that put you in a trance and we can get addicted to these substances which get expensive after a while. I was popping Vicodin like Skittles daily. You get here and you have nobody,” Gutierrez said.
That’s when he found a group of veterans in San Jose called the Weed for Warriors Project.
“I couldn’t wait till the next meeting. I finally connected and associated with people who were going through the same things. I was able to get out of the house and with the Project’s help, was able to afford things again,” Gutierrez said. “A lot of us went through shell shock, we lost our comrades and suffered from PTSD and other physical and mental problems. My problem was I didn’t know how I could calm down and deal with those times that hurt too much. Cannabis gave me an outlet to society and I was at peace for the first time in three years.”
He moved to Humboldt County this year and formed the Weed for Warriors Project in March. The group specializes in providing access to medical marijuana for veterans suffering from mental and physical ailments and provided alternative medicine to prescription drugs, which Gutierrez said could lead to opioid addictions.
“When I got out of the military, it took me two years to say I’ve had enough of the pills. I’ve met many fellow veterans addicted to opioids and meth. If I would have just asked how they’re doing, maybe they’d be OK. There’s a lot of us who know that this day (Veteran’s Day) is hard. We reach out to them. It’s not just about weed, it’s about medication, health and coming together with people who understand you,” Gutierrez said.
With California’s passage of Proposition 64, veterans like Gutierrez are worried the benefits of a free and unregulated market will be limited and that medical marijuana, which is normally given out at discounted or freely to veterans will now be more expensive and less accessible.
General manager of the Humboldt Patient Resource Center Bryan Willkomm has similar thoughts on the new legislation and said it could change the way they provide services to their veteran patients.
“We currently give our veterans a 10 percent discount and on Veterans Day the discount is doubled, but with increased tax and regulation fees that could seriously impact our ability to sustain not just our veterans but our other patients currently enrolled in our compassion program,” Willkomm said.
Willkomm said they provide free or discounted services to 150 people within their program and some of them come from the Weed for Warriors Project. He also said cannabis is not treated like a normal business and that they are taxed higher than any other industry in town.
“What other drug do patients need to register the usage with the county? (Proposition 64) will turn this into a tax-generating system instead of a patient oriented system,” Willkomm said. “PTSD patients need at least an ounce every day to medicate themselves. Our concern is that the rise in regulation cost will cause a rise in taxes and eventually a rise in costs making it difficult to provide for veterans in need of medication.”
Willkomm said ultimately a medical marijuana recommendation would not solve problems of having untaxed marijuana because it would render veterans’ rights to own firearms void by placing them on the Registrar of Cannabis Users.
“They fight for our rights and now they come home, register for a state system and forfeit their Second Amendment rights,” Willkomm said.
However, marijuana consultant and co-author of the “Newbie’s Guide to Cannabis and the Industry,” Chris Conrad, said Proposition 64 will not inhibit veterans from obtaining marijuana but instead will provide more opportunities for them to have regular access to the product.
“If anything, Proposition 64 will help marijuana be more available to veterans who in the past may have been denied access to medication based on federal doctors who are less likely to write them a prescription for cannabis,” Conrad said.
According to Conrad, the proposed excise tax on California cannabis is 15 percent and the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA) were not part of Proposition 64’s initiative which controlled nonmedical marijuana. He said the law stated it protects medical marijuana patients’ current rights and adds new custodial and privacy rights.
“Initially the prices will spike, but it wont be an ongoing expense as the market grows. They will level and eventually like in Colorado might even decrease,” Conrad said. “This law will lower the price of obtaining a state medical marijuana card which exempts patients with that card from paying sales tax. That ‘outlaw culture’ of marijuana that people have romanticized is now over the counter and I think we should embrace this system that makes marijuana available to more people, including veterans, instead of clinging to the system of the past,” Conrad said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Weed For Warriors Project Aids Vets
Author: Natalya Estrada
Contact: 707-441-0500
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
Website: Times Standard