Dear Friends, As we remembered those who gave their lives serving our country this Memorial Day, I am reflecting on how we can best support and help veterans who are still with us going forward.   I have made ending the failed war on drugs and legalizing cannabis a top priority. Occasionally I’m asked why I spend so much time on this issue. Today, I want to explain one of the reasons.  Not a week goes by where I don’t receive an email, phone call, or have a friend or neighbor tell me that cannabis—especially medical marijuana—has kept them alive or eased their suffering.   This is particularly true for veterans experiencing PTSD and other service-related challenges. Study after study indicates that cannabis use can reduce some of the worst symptoms of PTSD and alleviate chronic pain, anxiety, and depression.   Each year, more than 6,000 veterans tragically die by suicide. Veterans are also twice as likely to die from an accidental overdose compared to the general public. The U.S. Veterans Affairs Department (VA) has a shameful history of over-prescribing opioids to veterans, resulting in suffering, ruined lives, and countless overdose deaths.   Outdated federal cannabis policies prevent VA doctors and health care providers from even talking to veterans about a far safer option than opioids: state-legal medical marijuana. This denies veterans equal access to care, when compared to their civilian counterparts. It forces them to seek care outside of the VA system if they want to take advantage of state-legal medical marijuana options, threatening their continuity of care and preventing VA doctors from fully addressing their patients’ questions.   That is why I am working to end the VA’s prohibition on doctors giving opinions and recommendations or completing forms in compliance with state medical marijuana laws. My Veterans Equal Access Act would finally allow VA providers to answer our veterans’ questions and allow them to participate in state-legal medical marijuana programs It would help thousands of veterans at no cost to the VA.  Almost every veteran expert I have talked to during my decades-long career in public service agrees that if the federal government implements a rational approach to cannabis-one that includes allowing VA doctors to consult with their patients about state legal medical marijuana options, health outcomes for veterans would improvedramatically.  I will never stop fighting for our veterans and demanding they are able to receive the best quality health care available, including cannabis. For them, it is truly a matter of life or death.