Veterans with PTSD denied legal medical mj in CO

[RainDog]

18. Another veteran's story of cannabis relieving PTSD

This one was published before the VA changed its rules and allowed vets in states with mmj laws for PTSD to use it for their symptoms. Since this report, New Mexico has implemented mmj/ptsd law, where one-fourth of the state's then 1600 mmj patients were PTSD related.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126827410

...Paul Culkin of Rio Rancho, N.M., traces his PTSD back to 2004 when he was in Kosovo and part of an Army bomb squad. A car crashed into a business. The manager was inside trying to put out a fire. Culkin went in once to try to get him to leave, but he wouldn't go.

"The second time when I went in to get him out of there — that's when the car bomb exploded and the glass hit me," Culkin says.

..Culkin started avoiding social situations and was quick to anger. He says the treatment he's received from the VA — mostly counseling and antidepressant medication — has helped. But, he says, marijuana also works well to relieve his anxiety.

"He's a different person. He's a better person. He's more open. He's more communicative," (his wife) says. "At one point, we almost got a divorce, and I can honestly say that I think medical cannabis saved our marriage and our family."