The flags ripple, horns blast, and every bar and street corner wears its patriotism like a uniform on Veterans Day. “Thank you for your service” echoes across sidewalks and social feeds as people look veterans in the eye with genuine respect. Yet, after the parades end and the gratitude fades, there’s another reality for those who served, a quieter, darker battle fought in living rooms, hospital rooms, and minds. For many veterans, coming home didn’t mean peace. It meant meeting new foes—PTSD, chronic pain, sleepless nights, and the grip of medications meant to numb but that instead chain.
Enter cannabis, a green lifeline that the VA won’t prescribe but veterans know is saving lives. For countless service members, cannabis isn’t just a rebellious pastime; it’s a route to reclaiming peace. Veterans talk about the ways cannabis dampens the roar of anxiety, soothes aching muscles, hushes flashbacks, and unlocks something elusive—a decent night’s sleep. But they have to seek this solace alone, fighting bureaucratic bans and risking federal penalties for a chance at relief.
It’s a bitter paradox. Those who’ve risked it all for freedom are shackled by laws that block their right to use a plant for healing. Every prescription painkiller tossed their way feels like another insult, another reminder of a system that forgets their needs once they’ve taken off the uniform. With a body count climbing from the opioid crisis, it’s past time for a new approach.
This Veterans Day, as we raise our glasses and voices in honor of those who served, it’s on us to stand with them in their battle for access to cannabis. It’s time to honor their right to heal on their own terms. They fought for our freedom; they deserve to claim their own.
Keep It Weird,
