For many veterans, the war continues long after they’ve left the battlefield.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates 11 percent of Afghanistan veterans and 20 percent of Iraq veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a medical condition brought on by a terrifying or traumatic experience. PTSD can cause depression, anxiety, and lead to substance abuse problems as the injured soldier tries whatever methods they can to ease their pain and suffering.

But inquiring to physicians about medical marijuana at VA hospitals remains a risky proposition, even for those who put their lives on the line defending our freedom.

Until 2011, VA policy was to stop giving prescription pain medication to veterans if they were found to be using marijuana for any reason, even if approved by a doctor in a state that allows its use for medical purposes. This in spite of studies that show it to be an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress and a softening national attitude towards pot.

Even the VA, the largest provider of medical services to veterans in the country, long had in place a sort of “code of silence” when it came to medical marijuana, according to Michael Krawitz, Executive Director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access (VMCA).

“It was impossible to talk about marijuana to anyone inside the [VA] system,” Krawitz said in an interview. “It’s sort of like the new ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ ”

Even doctors, he said, would “become uncomfortable” when a patient disclosed using medical marijuana or inquired about its potential efficacy in their treatment regimen.

“A veteran who walks into a facility and starts asking about medical marijuana can get identified as a troublemaker,” he said. “It’s not a good idea.”

Blanket Prohibition

Thanks in large part to Krawitz and VMCA’s efforts, the VA amended its policy in 2011, putting an end to the practice of stripping vets of their prescribed narcotic painkillers strictly on the grounds that they took legal medical marijuana under the orders of a physician outside the VA system.

However, the blanket prohibition on marijuana remains in place under federal law, so under threat of potential Drug Enforcement Administration involvement or institutional sanctions, VA doctors are still not allowed to recommend medical marijuana to patients they believe in their clinical opinion could benefit from it.

“They have to keep their mouth shut even if they see someone in front of them who is dying,” Krawitz said.

In response to a 2008 inquiry by the VA regarding potential legal consequences for its physicians, the Office of General Counsel, which represents the legal needs of the VA, issued a memorandum that didn’t rule out possible criminal or institutional penalties for physicians who failed to toe the federal government’s line on marijuana.

For many wounded veterans, marijuana is preferable to narcotic pain medication, which is known to be habit forming with a high potential for overdose if misused. Recent studies even show medical marijuana access may reduce the number of deaths caused by opioid overdoses, owing to requiring smaller doses of the narcotic pain medication when paired with marijuana. For some vets, it’s one of the only things that offers any relief at all from their mental anguish.

A decorated former Marine Corps infantryman who asked we not use his full name, Brady, served three tours of duty before finally being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even reaching the brink of considering suicide.

Brady said the delayed diagnosis and treatment was predominantly due to the Marine Corps’ culture, which he says uses shame and isolation to discourage Marines from seeking medical treatment of any kind, especially for mental health reasons.

Brady eventually left the Marines and returned home to California in 2009 after three overseas tours, including combat duty in Ramadi, Iraq. He said he stumbled into the medicinal use of marijuana by trying it recreationally.

“It was life changing'” he said. “There’s no way to put it into words. Going from having PTSD to smoking and sitting on the couch realizing it’s ok. It’s ok to have these emotions; it’s ok to be a little crazy.”

Ultimately, Brady got a prescription for medical marijuana, which he says he then used therapeutically in conjunction with counseling and other medications for the next several years.

“I smoked a lot,” Brady said. “And I went through a lot of introspection and meditation … for a long time I was depressed. I got over it with marijuana.”

“I Got Over It With Marijuana”

Brady has since moved to Arizona, where a medical marijuana program is still in its infancy. Although he no longer smokes weed, he says he still believes it is a valuable component of the healing process for some people, which may also include talk therapy and prescription drugs.

“What needs to happen is VA starts actual studies with drugs and sees what effects they have on veterans’ brains and try to reach outside the box.” he said. “A lot of good can come from this for veterans. I really want the VA to have a hand in this,” he said.

There have been signs that the VA is at least acknowledging the fact that some veterans are seeking medical marijuana outside its auspices. It won’t endorse or recommend its use, but there have been some minor cracks its code of silence.

A guide issued by the VA in May of this year, Taking Opioids Responsibly, which instructs vets on safe practices for their pain management routines, actually takes a small but meaningful step towards encouraging more open dialog between doctors and patients. Even mentioning medical marijuana by name not once but twice.

“DO Tell your VA provider about medicines or supplements you are getting from non-VA providers. This includes the marijuana prescribed by a non-VA provider,” it reads.

Later, it comes up again in a section discouraging patients from using street drugs, albeit with a reminder thrown in to drive home just how illegal they still consider it.

“DON’T take street drugs including marijuana that is not authorized by a provider NOTE: It is illegal for patients to possess marijuana on Federal property; this includes all VA facilities.” (Emphasis theirs.)

So while the VA still is strictly forbidden from endorsing or recommending medical marijuana, they now at least acknowledge it exists in official documentation.

With the Obama Administration choosing to stay the course on the federal government’s unyielding marijuana stance, the decision to allow medical marijuana remains with the states, 23 of which (plus D.C.) now allow some form of medical marijuana, even as the drug in all forms remains illegal at the federal level.

“While the Administration continues to support research on what parts of the marijuana plant may be used as medicine, neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the Institute of Medicine has found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard of safe or effective medicine,” wrote former Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske in response to a 2012 petition on whitehouse.gov initiated by Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access.

We reached out to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, but they didn’t respond to our interview request.

We entrust the men and women of our nation’s armed forces with our safety at home, not to mention nuclear submarines, grenade launchers and fighter jets. But we don’t trust them to smoke a little pot if it gives them some relief. At the same time, we do entrust them with jars upon jars of addictive and potentially lethal chemicals in the form of opioid pain medication. Our vets deserve better than a federal policy that can’t make up its own mind. And they definitely deserve access to whatever safe, proven medicine is legally available, including marijuana.

Veterans are preparing to open up the latest front in the battle to obtain greater access to cannabis, and are set to deliver a petition to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office requesting marijuana be rescheduled under the Controlled Substances Act, according to a news release issued Monday.

Current scheduling of “marihuana” is stripping veterans of their constitutional rights and dismantling the patient-doctor relationship within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Removal of “marihuana” from Schedule I will allow VHA physicians the ability to recommend its medical use for many debilitating conditions Veterans suffer from. As science continues to document and verify the medicinal properties of cannabis, the ethical dilemma of the current scheduling becomes even more apparent. This is especially true when considering recent studies that have shown a reduction in the number of opiate overdoses and suicides among states with medical marijuana programs.

The petition will be delivered to the Attorney General’s Office by a national coalition of veterans on Nov. 13.

“We’re in trench warfare with this cannabis access program and we’re going to keep working until we finish the war,” Krawitz said.

“When we can go to the VA pharmacy to get a prescription for pot, that’s when we’re done fighting and not a minute before.”