#veterans-health

#veterans-health

I think we are on this precipice, teetering on this little thing where we have no problem discussing how bad marijuana is but don't attack alcohol, because that's a part of our culture. Well you know what, people get behind the wheel drinking everyday and kill people. I'd much rather smell weed on the side of the street than liquor on someone's breath trying to talk to me. So I think we can be hypocrites about it.

Amy Lindberg spent 26 years in the Navy and she still walked like it-with intention, like her chin had someplace to be. But around 2017, her right foot stopped following orders. Lindberg and her husband Brad were five years into their retirement. After moving 10 times for Uncle Sam, they'd bought their dream house near the North Carolina coast. They had a backyard that spilled out onto wetlands. From the kitchen, you could see cranes hunting. They kept bees and played pickleball and watched their children grow.

Across the United States, more than 18 million military veterans live with the lasting effects of service. For many, combat did not end when they returned home. The scars of war-whether in the form of physical injuries, chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or invisible mental health struggles-are daily realities. Yet despite decades of evidence supporting cannabis as a therapeutic tool, America's veterans still face barriers to safe and consistent access.