Veterans all across Maryland who have been considering whether the state’s medical marijuana program could be a viable part of their overall treatment plan will have an opportunity in the coming weeks to discuss the option with a licensed physician at no cost.
According to the Baltimore Business Journal, a physician’s group called Canna Care Docs will be offering complimentary medical evaluations and on site registration assistance over the next few weeks for military veterans wanting to explore whether medical marijuana is right for them.
For many veterans, the act of simply applying for participation in the state’s medical marijuana program can be a daunting task, not to mention financially challenging. These types of consultations often run in upwards of $200, even before the first cannabis purchase is ever made. However, on October 14, October 28 and November 4, local veterans will have the opportunity to speak with a state-licensed physician and even get officially enrolled in the program without coughing up a single cent.
"Unfortunately for many veterans, their health can be negatively affected due to their deployment," said Maggie Fauver, mid-Atlantic operations manager with Canna Care. "These veteran events are Canna Care Docs' way of sincerely saying 'Thank you for our freedom.'"
Although medical marijuana is legal in Maryland, it is still very much against the law in the eyes of the federal government. It is for this reason that doctors employed with the Department of Veterans Affairs cannot even begin to discuss medical marijuana with their patients.
In some cases, even those veterans who look to outside medical assistance in order to get involved with their local medical marijuana programs experience hardships at when returning to the VA. Testing positive for marijuana, even if it is only for medicinal purposes, has been known to cost veterans the loss of prescription drug privileges.
Until the federal government changes its position, there is not much of a chance that the VA will amend its drug policy and begin assisting patients wanting to use medical marijuana.
This means veterans will need to rely on services like the one being offered by Canna Care to in order to test the waters.
Some of the latest studies show that medical marijuana can be effective in the treatment of chronic pain and PTSD; both commonly reported conditions within the veteran’s community.
