The US Army and medical marijuana

I found this article through American Women Veterans recently, and it's been on my mind ever since. It's just so awful, yet so typical of the Army, to do something like this.

I've never made any secret of the fact that I support full and unrestricted legalization of marijuana. Medical use is the first step to that, and a lot of states are now on board with this. At bare minimum, the least we can do as a self-professed progressive nation, is to allow people who would benefit from marijuana use as a medical treatment, to obtain and use it without worrying about getting busted by law enforcement just for trying to cope with whichever of the numerous diseases it helps with, that they may be affected by.

The US Army, as always, is far behind the times when it comes to this. I can think of a dozen ways in which the Army generally goes along with the laws of the state any given soldier is in. Most post commanders have their Military Police enforce traffic laws the same way local police do so that there is consistency. Post housing goes along with local trends. Food prices in the commissary are fairly commensurate with local trends as well. This medical marijuana dilemma is one thing in which the Army lags big time, and it comes down to just a couple of things. One of which is, of course, the simple refusal to see marijuana as something other than the 1960's classroom film Reefer Madness portrays it to be. The other is the good old boys' club "because we say so, that's why" mentality that is absolutely pervasive Army-wide.

This soldier did nothing wrong. She was a licensed medical marijuana user. Her doctor, the one who prescribed and supplied the marijuana to her, is a retired Colonel! It's not like she went and bought it on a street corner and just tried to say it was for medical use. It was a bona fide case of marijuana use being the best treatment for the things that ailed her, and a licensed doctor with military experience, knowing that and acting accordingly. Now the Army is doing what the Army always does, and creating a paper trail to make things look the way they want them to look. It's kind of scary. I remember when I was in high school, and I saw a t-shirt on one of my classmates that said "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." I thought it was funny, but it was only when I joined the Army that I learned that it's actually true! Stupid, stuck in the mud, unprogressive people in large groups can do most anything they want, and they are having their way with this medical marijuana issue. They better not win this one, although if I had to bet money on one side or the other of this case, the only safe bet is the Army, because they pretty much always get their way. They seem to love sending female soldiers to jail for stupid shit a lot in recent years. If they do it to this one, then I'd say they've reached a new all-time low, even for them.

The thing I hate the most is the reaction of so many soldiers. I can't believe everyone is so up in arms about a little bit of pot. I guarantee every one of the ones who's crucifying this soldier has thrown an all night drunken rager of a party in the barracks a time or ten. Honestly, for my buck, soldiers would be better off if ALL they did was smoke pot, and alcohol was the thing that was severely restricted. Taking a bong hit after work isn't going to make you puke all over the Commander's shoes on the company run in the morning, but downing a 6-pack after work is nearly guaranteed to. Any controlled substance can affect duty performance, but if you ask any Vietnam vet, they will tell you without hesitation that the drunks in their unit were 100x worse than the stoners. The Army has this thing backward. If that soldier came in and said, "Yeah, the pain is so bad I drink a fifth of Jack Daniels before bed every night." they would send her to counseling for evaluation for an alcohol problem. Since she said she's a medical marijuana user (and provided official documentation, no less!) she's a hardened criminal as far as they're concerned. What a load of crap. The Army's marijuana policy is an exercise in hypocrisy. This, of course, is no surprise.

I just wonder how long it's going to take the Army to get with the times. My guess? 20+ years.