Veterans Day, Kurt Vonnegut, War, Cannabis, PTSD: Some Thoughts To Ponder

Kurt Vonnegut, who would be 100 years old today, never liked the name Veterans Day. He preferred to call it Armistice Day, which marked the end of WWI, a day of peace when an armistice preceded a peace treaty…"a moment," Vonnegut wrote, "when armies stop killing each other."

President Woodrow Wilson created Armistice Day in 1919 after WWI, though it was changed in 1945 to Veterans Day after the end of WWII, part of which, by the way, Vonnegut spent as a Nazi prisoner of war in Dresden. 

And Veterans Day Now?

US troops who have served in numerous wars and conflicts face crises of unequaled proportions, including a soaring suicide rate of at least 22 per day, homelessness, lack of employment, lack of medical care, out-of-control opioid use and the difficult challenges of transitioning out of the military.

The suicide rate among veterans is thought to be more than double what federal officials report annually because of undercounting related to drug overdose deaths and service record errors, suggested a new analysis published in Military Times.

Veterans, Cannabis And PTSD

At the moment, military veterans are unable to access medical marijuana (MMJ) via the VA due to its Schedule I classification, although vets participating in state-legal MMJ programs will not be denied VA benefits. 

MMJ: An Alternative To Opioids For Veterans And The Rest Of Us?

Most medical professionals are not taught about cannabis as an effective treatment option nor about the endocannabinoid system.

Dr. Sue Sisley is trying to change that. 

Sisley, head of the Scottsdale Research Institute (SRI), is widely known for her research into potential medical uses of marijuana to treat veterans diagnosed with PTSD. Sisley's research is supported by the California-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

As veteran suicides began to soar nationwide and in her own practice, Sisley decided it was time to “look harder at what this plant has to offer through controlled trials.” 

In partnership with MAPS, Sisley undertook a clinical trial with veterans suffering from PTSD. The study took 10 years to complete because she was impeded at every turn by the government until she finally and successfully sued the DEA over the poor quality of available research cannabis. The SRI received approval from the DEA in May 2021, essentially ending the 52-year government-enforced research monopoly involving the University of Mississippi as the only provider in the nation. The lawsuit enabled researchers to eventually acquire Schedule I research licenses to cultivate cannabis flower for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved clinical trials, which Dr. Sisley's is. The good doctor is still producing outstanding results and relief for veterans with PTSD. 

Long live US veterans, past and present, and Happy Birthday Kurt Vonnegut.

Photo: Chad Madden on Unsplash