Medical marijuana service for veterans opens first of its kind in Manitoba

Veterans' new place to turn for medical marijuana Marijuana for Trauma, a national company started to help veterans with PTSD, opened its doors in Headingley on Saturday.

Trauma victims in Winnipeg have a new place to turn for help getting access to medical marijuana.

Marijuana for Trauma, a national company started to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, opened its doors at 4280 Portage Ave. in Headingley on Saturday.

The organization helps veterans and other people with diagnosed conditions apply for medical marijuana and educates them about proper treatments. Staff will connect patients with doctors who can prescribe marijuana, then help patients find legal suppliers.

In addition, staff will help patients work out which treatment method works most effectively for them.

Francois Halle, Marijuana for Trauma’s national medical science liaison and clinical coordinator, is a medical doctor and former member of the Armed Forces from 1997-2002.

Halle said he had friends who served in Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Afghanistan who came back with PTSD or chronic pain.

Many of those vets who switched to cannabis from pharmaceuticals noticed they were better able to take part in daily activities, Halle said.

READ MORE: Ottawa will reimburse veterans for just three grams of medical pot, per day

“The perception that someone might have, that you smoke marijuana, you get high, you forget your problem. In the case of PTSD, that’s not it at all,” he said.

Medical marijuana reduces the production a neurotransmitter called anandamide, which helps prevent past traumatic memories from becoming overpowering in the presence of a trigger, Halle said.

The company’s motto is, “plants, not pills,” said director of operations for western Canada, Riley McGee.

“One of the things we’re trying to educate people on is that cannabinoid therapy is so much different pharmaceuticals,” he said. “It’s not take two pills a day with food. The education and the support and the guidance that’s required to effectively treat your condition is much heavier, intense or involved.”

McGee said the complaint he often hears from PTSD patients taking many different pharmaceutical treatments is that they feel like a “zombie.”

“Cannabis is unique because it treats a wide range of symptoms and conditions that you would try to attack with different pharmaceuticals,” he said.

McGee acknowledged there is a stigma around marijuana use, and said education is key to dispelling some of the misconceptions around it.

“These are physician-guided, and cannabis educators supporting people through these processes. This is not a bunch of guys sitting around smoking street weed in their basements constantly.”

McGee said many patients use oils what can be added to food, as well as smoked or vaporized. Another treatment method involves taking the marijuana in pill form.