Letter to the editor:
Project 39 is the mission title of the Veterans Action Council’s reaction to the 39 elected individuals in the state of Wisconsin who have rejected, without cause, the demand of Wisconsin veterans
for therapeutic cannabis.
In July, 2010, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) issued a directive that stated: cannabis is a medicine, and it shall be treated as such by all healthcare personnel of the VHA. For thirteen years, and today, that is the policy of the largest healthcare organization in the world and part of the executive branch of the U.S. federal government.
The VHA is managed by experts in medical practice who care about their patients, veterans of all conflicts, places of service, race, sex, and age. The identified Project 39 members of the Wisconsin Legislature have abandoned Wisconsin veterans when they rely upon them the most. Cannabis helps veterans reduce their use of pain medication, which in turn can save lives. The federal government is leaning on the states to handle the medical use of cannabis, so we need the Legislature to do its part.
The American Nurses Association, skilled in patient care, has twice, in written policy, informed all registered nurses and LPNs that they are to be both educated in therapeutic cannabis medicine applications, but must also extend that knowledge to the U.S. public as part of a nurses’ duty to provide the best possible care to any and all of their patients. Veterans deserve the best available treatment given today’s medical knowledge and ability and should not have choices limited by their geographical location.
It is to Wisconsin’s shame that the “39,” identified below, skilled in law and law enforcement — lawyers and cops — fail to comprehend that the nurses and medical doctors possess the medical knowledge about which they have established written policy concerning medicinal cannabis.
The U.S. Congress, also stacked with lawyers and police, for 50 years, regardless of the science, has allowed cannabis to remain in a prohibited status federally that only applies to “cannabis illegal” states. The “39” insist cannabis stay restricted in Wisconsin — illegal.
Because of the notion that cannabis remains medically illegal, a notion these “39” hold and Wisconsin citizens do not, Wisconsin veterans have potential medical treatment of their individual injuries denied because VHA cannabis policy is only meaningful and effective in cannabis “legal” states.
About 331,000 veterans live in Wisconsin. Of those, 72,000-plus are disabled veterans. These 331,000 men and women who gave us all we hold as freedom are not free to choose their own medicine, nor are their attending physicians. It takes a medical license in all states to “practice medicine,” and the “39” have no such credentials, therefore, they are determining medical protocols for veterans, tens of thousands, without acknowledging the harm they do.
The V.A.C. has a member, one combat-wounded disabled Marine, who lives in Wisconsin and will not use cannabis medicinally because he will not break the Wisconsin law. His brothers and sisters think he is nuts, but he is adamant about “law,” unlike the men and women who make them up from thin air. Vets leave no one behind, certainly not this Marine, and so with this letter to the editor, the V.A.C. is establishing our beachhead in Wisconsin to ensure that when the mission is completed, and it will be, our brothers and sisters will have the option of cannabis to relieve their injuries, physical or emotional.
The Veterans Action Council (V.A.C.) is an all-volunteer group of international veterans and venerated professionals in our respective fields committed to setting higher standards of care for the veteran community nationwide. We started the V.A.C. as a buddy check-in for veterans during COVID-19. As equals, each member brings a unique perspective and a wealth of lived experience both in and out of service. Our mission is to ensure safe and affordable access to natural medicines and alternative therapies.
Submitted by Michael Krawitz
Veteran representative on the Virginia Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council (https://studies.virginiageneralassembly.gov/studies/568), on behalf of the Veterans Action Council membership
VeteransActionCouncil@gmail.com
https://www.veteransactioncouncil.com/
The Wisconsin 39:
Rep. Mark Born
Sen. Ron Johnson
Rep. Scott FitzGerald
Rep. Tom Tiffany
Rep. Mike Gallagher
Sen. Andre Jacque
Sen. Rob Hutton
Sen. Devin LeMahieu
Sen. Steve Nass
Sen. Joan Ballweg
Sen. Howard Marklein
Sen. Dan Feynman
Sen. Duey Stroebel
Sen, Van Wanngaurd
Sen. Jesse James
Sen. Chris Kapenga
Rep. Janel Brandtjen
Rep. Gae Magnafici
Rep. Shannon Zimmerman
Rep. Tyler August
Rep. Rob Swearingen
Rep. Calvin Callahan
Rep Jeffery Mursau
Rep. William Penterman
Rep. Barbra Dittrich
Rep. Kevin Peterson
Rep. Alex Dallman
Rep. Travis Trannel
Rep. Tony Kurtz
Rep. Jerry O’Conner
Rep. Dave Murphy
Rep. Rick Gundrum
Rep. Robbin Vos
Rep. Chuck Wichgers
Rep. Elija Behnke
Rep. Loren Oldenburg
Rep. Scott Allen
Rep. Adam Neylon
File photo/Kim McDarison
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