Most people have heard about post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, but few actually understand what it is. The Veterans Administration says PTSD is a form of depression, described in one dictionary as being “dejected, dispirited, lowered in vitality or function, or inactive and sad.” The same dictionary describes ‘anguish’ as, “distress, difficulty, extreme pain, agony, torture and torment.”

Dr. Phil Leveque has himself suffered from PTSD since his days as a foot soldier in World War II, more than sixty years ago. As a physician in Oregon who has treated more than 400 Vietnam veterans, many of them suffering from the condition, Dr. Leveque insists that ‘anguish’ most closely describes the feelings of PTSD patients.

The textbook definition of the condition includes symptoms such as a high responsiveness to stimuli, re-experiencing the original trauma(s) through flashbacks or nightmares, anger, and difficulty sleeping due to hypervigilance. Inevitably, this state of increased anxiety leads to exhaustion. When symptoms last longer than one month and cause impairment in normal functioning, the disorder meets formal diagnostic criteria for PTSD.

So what causes PTSD? In most cases, as its name implies, it is the result of experiencing a traumatic event such as a car accident or a terrorist attack. Sadly, abuses suffered during childhood can also trigger the disorder.

In most cases, the debilitating medical and psychological symptoms that follow a traumatic event will eventually pass. However, in 10%-30% of patients with the condition the symptoms linger long past the triggering event. These unfortunate individuals suffer from stress symptoms for months and even years.

A primary problem in treating the disorder is the additional stress the patient experiences from having the affliction in the first place; such stress can be quite difficult to overcome, but there is cause for hope for these patients:

A recent study was conducted by research student Eti Ganon-Elazar under the supervision of Dr. Irit Akirav at the Learning and Memory Lab in the University of Haifa's Department of Psychology. Dr. Akirav reports that results of the study show that cannabinoids are quite useful in the treatment of stress-related disorders. "The results of our research should encourage psychiatric investigation into the use of cannabinoids in post-traumatic stress patients," she concludes.

This revelation is not news to Dr. Leveque, who asserts that he has successfully treated with medical cannabis about 1000 veterans and others for PTSD. He goes on to point out that the standard array of medications used for the disorder are not only ineffective, but can produce side effects worse than the symptoms of PTSD.

Many victims of the disorder, discovering that the standard medications issued by the VA do not help them, have resorted to self-medicating with alcohol, cannabis, and illegal drugs and have found a measure of relief—at least for the short term. Unfortunately, in many cases this results in these patients being regarded negatively by our society.

Dr. Leveque reports that every patient he has treated with medical cannabis has said that cannabis helps them more than any prescription medicine they have used. Is it not time to allow these struggling patients legal access to the medicine that actually works for them?

Who's Who in Medical Cannabis - Dr. Phillip Leveque - by c.a. riley

During World War II Dr. Phillip “Dogface” Leveque served with General Patton's Third Army as a Combat Infantryman. Today, more than 60 years later, he still suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Despite this hindrance, Phil Leveque has achieved much more during his long lifetime than most of his unafflicted peers. He holds master’s degrees in biochemistry and pharmacology, and doctorate degrees in pharmacology and osteopathy.

He has worked as a Professor of Pharmacology with the University of London; as an Osteopathic Physician; as a Forensic Toxicologist; and as a Nutritional Biochemist. Dr. Leveque was one of Oregon’s first toxicologists and one of the first fifty toxicologists in the United States.

As a physician in Molalla, Oregon, Dr. Leveque has for the past several years been recognized for his advocacy of medical cannabis and his work in improving veteran care. He has specialized in treating veterans such as himself with PTSD.

Dr. Leveque has the unfortunate distinction of being the first doctor in any of the states having medical cannabis programs to lose his license for recommending it. On May 1, 2002 Leveque’s license was suspended for ninety days by the Board of Medical Examiners and he was fined $5,000. None of Dr. Leveque’s patients had any complaints about anything he had done and, in fact, helped him pay his fine and $20,000 in attorney fees.

Leveque’s license was reinstated at the end of the ninety days and he returned to treating his patients. All was well until March 2004 when the Board of Medical Examiners again suspended his license, and several months later, in October, issued a formal notice of revocation although no patient of Leveque’s had ever indicated any sort of complaint about his treatment of them. Leveque appealed the decision but lost.

Testifying at a hearing before the Board’s administrative law judge, defensive expert witness Rick Bayer, M.D. stated, “Totally removing Dr. Leveque's license alleging he is a danger to Oregonians based on these cases seems more like anti-medical marijuana politics than science-based medical therapeutics." Who would argue with that?

For more about Dr. Leveque, see his memoirs, "General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII: From a Foxhole." Or visit: http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/articles/or070703.htm

What's New

Alabama: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   HB642 - The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act of Alabama

Arkansas: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Connecticut: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Delaware: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Florida: Medical marijuana petition drive underway.

Idaho: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Illinois: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   Bill Status of SB1381

Iowa: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Kansas: Medical marijuana petition drive underway.
   Marijuana Bill Reaches House

Maryland: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   Bill Status of SB 627

Massachusetts: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Minnesota: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Missouri: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   HOUSE BILL NO. 1670 - An Act relating to the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes
   Cottleville Mayor Don Yarber hopes Missouri legislature passes medical marijuana law

New Hampshire: Considering a medical marijuana law.

New York: Considering a medical marijuana law.

North Carolina: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Ohio: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   HB 478

Pennsylvania: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   HB 1393

South Carolina: Considering a medical marijuana law.

South Dakota: Medical marijuana petition drive underway.

Tennessee: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Texas: Considering a medical marijuana law.

Wisconsin: Considering a medical marijuana law.
   The Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act

Featured Recipe - Chuey’s Chewy Oatmeal/Raisin Delight

OK, so who is Chuey? Soy el doctor Chuey (Jessie). Jessie is the closest thing you get to Jay down where I live. Nurse Nancy Wife and I made these oatmeal raisin cookies to help our Canny Bus Trip Kit driver recover from a recent illness. Cannabis cookies are great when you are laid up. They stimulate appetite, fight the nausea of chemotherapy or narcotics, reduce pain, and are very nutritious.

We made these cookies strong. They’d be chewier if we used dairy butter in the mix but we went with potency as these cookies are truly medical. Nancy and I also looked for the most organic ingredients possible as these treats were for a sick friend and she doesn’t need any preservatives.

Ingredients:

¾ cup (12 tablespoons) Better Bud Butter (room temperature)
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) Unsalted dairy butter
1 cup white sugar (granulated)- Turbinado better says Chuey’s Ms. Tamale
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed-light or dark)
2 eggs
2 -3cups unbleached white flour (sifted)
2- 2 ½ cups steel cut oats
1 cup organic sun dried raisins (even a bit more is better)
1 cup organic currants
1 cup chopped pecans
3 tsp vanilla extract (Ms. Tamale says the best vanilla is Spice Islands pure 100% Bourbon vanilla extract 70 proof)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Coat a baking pan with butter or canola oil. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda). Cream together the softened bud butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Fold the mixed dried ingredients into the creamed mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins, currants, and pecans. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Chuey likes to take golf ball size (well to tell the truth baseball size) chunks of dough, roll them into a ball and slightly flatten them in the palm of your hand, place on baking pan and squish down just a bit more. Don’t crowd the cookies.

Baking time at 300 degrees: Bake approximately 18 minutes depending upon the size of the cookies. Be careful not to overcook as these treats will dry up a bit as they cool. Cool the cookies on a rack and keep them in an airtight container for storage.

Yield: How many cookies you get depends upon what size you make them. Smaller cookies (three to five dozen) will cook much faster than large cookies (two to three dozen). One large cookie produced day long relaxation and pain relief for one medical patient with chronic muscle spasm.

Note to diabetics: You can substitute most of the sugar with a combination of fructose and other sweeteners. Portion control of the normal recipe will insure no nasty blood sugar peaks.

Recommended Beverage: Summer- home made lemonade, Winter- Double lattes