I was stationed in Baumholder, Germany, and El Paso, Texas, and medically discharged from the Army in November 2013 to return home to South Jersey. After sustaining physical injuries, I was put on narcotics and muscle relaxers for anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc. The Army and VA tried every antidepressant, mood stabilizer and anxiety medication known to man on me. But marijuana saved my life. I was able to put down the narcotics and continue to live. I wasn’t a walking zombie anymore. Marijuana is the best medicine out there, and it needs to be recognized as such.
—Therese Carrozzino, specialist E-4, US Army
When you witness the worst the world has to offer, it’s very hard to find the beauty in anything. Being a prescription zombie is like being trapped in a pitch-black room. As soon as I smoked my first joint, it was as if someone flipped the light switch on: I saw everything from a whole new perspective. Life was beautiful again. I was able to heal. I was able to process my trauma. I was able to smile. As we discover how cannabis treats our psychological wounds, we also begin to rebuild that camaraderie with other veterans that we so desperately miss from our military service. Along with fellow veteran Barry Richardson, we’ve made it our mission to grow and provide quality medicine to suffering veterans. We hope to single out specific strains that help veterans better cope with the symptoms of PTSD.
—Dakota Blue Serna, lance corporal, US Marine Corps
I served my country from 1993–97 in the 82nd Airborne Division. While serving as a medical specialist, I was exposed to and trained to treat all levels of injures, both on and off the battlefield, from PTSD to bullet wounds. During service, I sustained injury and was prescribed large doses of opioids, making me a heartless, lifeless zombie. Cannabis replaced them all within one year. It’s my experience that cannabis creates community and that community can save lives. I encourage people to create cannabis-friendly community centers in their hometowns and bring a healthy, healing community together.
—Steven Jacob Lull, specialist E-4, US Army
At 23 years old, I walked out of the VA hospital with prescriptions for Percocet, Klonopin and Ambien: Percocet for back pain, Klonopin for anxiety and Ambien for sleep. Little did I know it would mark the beginning of an entirely new kind of battle—one with an enemy I was completely unprepared to fight: prescription-drug addiction. It didn’t take long to develop an all-consuming dependence on opiates, benzodiazepines and sleeping medication. At 28, I made the decision to take my life back and detox off all the meds that had enslaved me. I tried desperately to get into the VA’s inpatient rehab, but after repeatedly being turned away, I knew I was on my own. I locked myself in my apartment, stocked up on food, water and marijuana, and gave my girlfriend my car keys. Seizures, sleepless nights and severe flu-like symptoms lasted over a month. It was one of the hardest experiences of my life. The only substance I allowed myself during that time was marijuana. It gave me the ability to eat, get a bit of sleep, and served to alleviate my back pain and anxiety. It’s been nearly three years since I’ve had a drug prescribed to me, and I have marijuana to thank for turning my life around. I use marijuana almost daily to combat pain, anxiety and sleeplessness. If only the VA had been willing and able to prescribe marijuana from the start, how many lives would be different, better or even saved? It’s “high time” for a change.
—Pearson Crosby, staff sergeant, US Marine Corps.
Five years ago, I was sitting on the couch in my South Philadelphia living room taking handfuls of pills and drooling on myself. Nodding in and out of consciousness, I didn’t care whether I lived or died. I honestly hoped on most days that I would fall asleep and not wake up. Today, I’m a successful photographer and outspoken advocate for veterans to have safe access to medical cannabis, and I attribute much of my own recovery to it. PTSD held me down, and the pills prescribed by the VA put even more of a weight on me, pushing me further down. Cannabis helped me get off of the pills and regain a sense of self, something that I’d lost after knowing nothing but being a Marine for nearly 11 years of my life. Cannabis, in conjunction with weekly therapy sessions, helped me get to know myself as Mike again. PTSD and pharmaceutical treatments would have killed me. Cannabis saved my life.
—Mike Whiter, staff sergeant, US Marine Corps
When I returned home from Iraq in 2005, I was faced with difficulties I never would have imagined. I didn’t think I was capable of succumbing to some of the demons I battled either. At this phase of my life, I feel blessed to be alive, free of institutionalization or incarceration—and freed from the bondage of opiate addiction. The outcomes would have been drastically different had it not been for the unconditional love from my family and peers, and finding access to the cannabis plant. I was able to overcome years of PTSD-driven misery, fueled by drug abuse and ineffective pharmaceuticals. Cannabis was an exit drug for me, providing a better quality of life with far less harmful side effects. I like the fact that I can treat a multitude of issues or symptoms with cannabis simultaneously through various delivery methods. More than 22 veterans, plus one active-duty service member, are killing themselves each day. The growing opiate epidemic in our population is heartbreaking. We need to give cannabis a chance to contend in modern medicine. It will save a great deal of lives.
—Sean Judge, specialist, US Army
I was deployed to Iraq from 2004–5, and performed a wide variety of missions including support, escort, quick reaction, route reconnaissance/clearance and civil-affairs operations. Diagnosed with severe PTSD and other service-connected issues in 2006, I went through multiple treatment/therapy programs, evaluations and in-patient stays at the Veterans Affairs hospital. For three years, I ran the gauntlet of “traditional” treatment methods, including a steady prescription of pharmaceutical narcotics. In 2009, I decided to wean myself off of the prescription cocktail provided by the VA and rely solely on cannabis—a decision I credit with helping me move on with life. As an advocate for cannabis-law and public-health reform, I’m determined to continue speaking out for those who needlessly suffer. I am wholeheartedly committed to ending cannabis prohibition so Americans can access cannabis without fear.
—Ricardo Pereyda, specialist, US Army Military Police
I served 14 months on the Great Lakes as a seaman. Then I went to school to become an electrician’s mate. I was assigned to Station Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, California. While stationed there, I started having episodes of depression. Naval doctors started me on a cocktail of pills for headaches, depression and anxiety. Before I was discharged, I had pill addictions and a drinking problem. Within months of my discharge, I was fired twice and began to have family issues. I was on a downward spiral and started to believe suicide was my only option. Then Michigan legalized medical cannabis. My outside therapist pointed me in the direction of cannabis and helped me obtain my card and become a grower. With his therapy and cannabis, I was able to kick the prescription drugs and the booze. I broke through. I realized there is therapy in helping others with cannabis. It was then that I began to heal. Cannabis saved my life. It gave me purpose and a means to help other veterans.
—Barry Richardson, petty officer third class, US Coast Guard
