Lately I have been seeing more and more patients with PTSD looking to medical marijuana as an alternative to the medications that their psychiatrists have prescribed. Because I have an office in Long Beach next to the VA and also take care of many Marines from Camp Pendleton I am seeing more and more how cannabis is helping them.

As medical director of Medical Cannabis of Southern California I often meet patients who are combat veterans and are in need of help. One of the blessings in my life was the opportunity to serve along side the Marines of 1st Battalion 4th Marines in Iraq from January-September 2003. I witnessed combat from the front lines and experienced the buffet of emotions that our troops go through on a daily basis. Now that I am honorably discharged I can openly discuss the benefits of using cannabis to take care of:

Today I met with Steve in my Long Beach office. Steve is 62 and currently lives at the VA hospital in Long Beach. Steve is a Viet Nam war veteran and was living in a shelter prior to being admitted to the VA. The reason why he was in my office is because he was assaulted with a baseball bat and required emergency brain surgery. Obviously I’m sickened by how our Viet Nam vets were treated when they came back from the war but to see a guy like this get clobbered by a bunch of hoodlums is pretty unbelievable. Steve uses cannabis for chronic headaches as a result of his surgery.