Over 90 % of U.S. army veterans who use medical marijuana say that it improves their high quality of life, with many utilizing hashish as an alternative choice to over-the-counter and prescription drugs, in line with a brand new examine.
Researchers on the College of Massachusetts, College of Utah and hashish analysis institutes checked out self-reported survey information from 510 veterans who stated that they devour marijuana, searching for to raised perceive the aim and experiences of their utilization.
A majority of the respondents (67 %) stated that they use hashish each day. And about one-third (30 %) stated that they devour marijuana to scale back the usage of different drugs, together with anti-depressants (25 %) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (17 %). One other 21 % stated that hashish has allowed them to scale back their use of opioid-based drugs.
General, 91 % of the veterans stated that hashish improved their high quality of life.
“Veterans who have been Black, who have been feminine, who served in energetic fight, and who have been dwelling with continual ache have been extra more likely to report a want to scale back the variety of prescription drugs they have been taking,” the examine says. “Ladies and people who used hashish each day have been extra more likely to report energetic use of hashish to scale back prescription remedy use.”
“Medicinal hashish use was reported to enhance high quality of life and cut back undesirable remedy use by lots of the examine members. The current findings point out that medicinal hashish can doubtlessly play a harm-reduction position, serving to veterans to make use of fewer pharmaceutical drugs and different substances.”
The observational study, which was printed final month within the journal Scientific Therapeutics, has a number of limitations—together with the truth that information was self-reported and several other hashish pleasant media retailers and firms promoted recruitment or offered funding for the analysis initiative. However the findings are usually per different research which have targeted on marijuana as a possible various to prescribed drugs.
There’s specific curiosity in finding out the potential of hashish as a therapy possibility for veterans, because the inhabitants disproportionately suffers from post-traumatic stress dysfunction (PTSD) and excessive charges of suicide.
A 2019 survey from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) discovered that 20 % of veterans have used marijuana for medicinal functions, whereas 66 % have consumed hashish for leisure use.
So far as the medical aspect goes, veterans are in a position to converse with medical doctors on the U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) about their use of hashish. However the medical doctors stay prohibited from filling out the kinds required to problem a medical hashish advice in a authorized state. A bipartisan congressional invoice—in addition to an modification hooked up to VA spending laws—intention to alter that this session.
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The Home Armed Providers Committee individually held a markup of the Nationwide Protection Authorization Act (NDAA) final month, and members adopted GOP-led provisions to create a medical marijuana “pilot program” and require a examine into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for energetic obligation army members underneath the U.S. Division of Protection (DOD).
In February, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee permitted one other invoice to direct VA to hold out research into the therapeutic potential of marijuana for army veterans with sure situations—marking the primary time that standalone hashish laws ever superior via a panel within the chamber. However Senate Republicans blocked a procedural movement to maneuver it to the ground in April.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) filed a distinct invoice in Might that will equally promote analysis into the medical potential of marijuana for army veterans with PTSD, continual ache and different situations deemed acceptable by the VA secretary.
A coalition of greater than 20 veterans service organizations (VSOs) despatched a letter to congressional leaders late final 12 months to induce the passage of a marijuana and veterans analysis invoice earlier than the tip of the final Congress. However that didn’t pan out.
Bipartisan Home and Senate lawmakers additionally refiled payments in April to legalize medical hashish for army veterans.
Photograph courtesy of Mike Latimer.
The submit Medical Marijuana Improves Army Veterans’ High quality Of Life And Reduces Prescription Drug Use, Research Finds appeared first on Marijuana Second.