I’m a veteran with PTSD, and medical marijuana changed my life. Tell the DEA to stop blocking groundbreaking research that could bring medical marijuana to other vets like me.
Since my time on active duty in Iraq, I’ve suffered badly from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I’m haunted by nightmares and flashbacks, remembering the improvised explosive device that nearly took my arm.
My PTSD got so bad that I became prone to outbursts of anger and violence. I tried therapy, different kinds of medication, but it just kept getting worse — until I began using medical marijuana.
After I registered as a patient in in my home state of Maine, where medical marijuana is legal, I finally felt like myself again. I stopped having so many nightmares when I was asleep, so many outbursts when I was awake.
For years researchers have been trying to study if marijuana can help veterans and others with PTSD. But the DEA has been blocking the research. The DEA would rather force veterans like me to go untreated than allow research to prove whether medical marijuana can help.
The Food and Drug Administration has already approved protocols for the proposed study on marijuana and PTSD. And just last week, the National Institute on Drug Abuse gave the study their approval as well. The DEA is now the one and only agency blocking this potentially revolutionary study.
PTSD is the second-most common illness facing today’s veterans. Tens of thousands of service members suffer from stress rooted in their time overseas. And while many are able to find some relief from traditional medical treatments, others are left seeking something that will work for them — and scientists think that medical marijuana may be the answer.
I know firsthand how devastating PTSD can be and I would be dead or in prison without medical marijuana. Thank you for helping me and other veterans like me to find some relief.
Thank you,
Sergeant Ryan Begin,
United States Marine Corps (Ret).
Belfast, Maine
Be a Seed for Change 
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