I didn’t dare smoke cannabis while in the military, and had had very limited experience prior as a minor. But somehow I knew towards the end of my deployment that it was something that I owed to myself; something that would do me a world of good; and something that I very possibly needed. I couldn’t have imagined how much I would smoke. Sorting out the emotions, trying to make peace with myself, I wound up smoking about an ounce per month for six consecutive months. However, I do not consider this amount–or any amount–too much for someone who desperately needs peace of mind and to rediscover some joy in being alive. It was just a lot more than I had anticipated wanting or needing.

I had been in a very stressful situation serving as an infantryman during my final deployment. I consider my entire last deployment one stressful situation: There was no end to stress, and there was no beginning to stress. The stress had built up since before we had arrived and would persist until long after we had left theater. There was no ebb, and there was no flow to the stress. There is no point in tallying the amount of times I was in danger or under fire; I was no more or less stressed bounding to the next position than I was waiting for the next mission. If I had just watched someone get killed or hadn’t been on a mission in days, I was on edge. Every minute felt the same: a year of stress and vigilance from beginning to end….

Cannabis helped me find peace of mind. Although I had never contemplated suicide, I would often wonder how long I could go on bearing the mental burden I had to bear. Although I did not want to die–on the contrary: because I did not want to die–I considered how that burden would ultimately break me. Cannabis helped in part to lift my burden off my shoulders.

I knew I was in trouble, and cannabis helped get me out of trouble. It helped me relax, plain and simple. Relax over a long enough time, and what you have is called healing. Cannabis helped to heal my mind. Thanks to cannabis I found peace after war, and I am grateful for it.

Much respect to those whose wounds cannot be healed by the mere smoking of a weed. I make no claims to your degree of sacrifice. I claim no sacrifice at all. I compare myself in no way to you. I can in no way compare what I have witnessed to what you have suffered. Much respect to all who suffer from PTSD. Americans cannot imagine what you have seen because you have shielded them from it. American troops serve neither policy nor politician; they serve the people of the United States of America. It’s up to the people to vote for the right politicians to pursue the right policies. Taking proper care of veterans must be one of them, and so must be marijuana law reform.

In October last year, I had a generalized warrant served on my home . maybe it was wrong but The way I was arrested is insane. I answered my door completely unarmed with no intention of denying access or show aggression in any way. My wife was in Florida caring for her sisters children while they were on a vacation.

I was met by a 12 gauge shotgun in my face and after the initial shock noticed that there was 1. The Buffalo Trace Area Drug Development Task Force. 2. The Ky State Police 3. The Fleming County Sheriff’s Dept, 4. The Mason County Sheriff’s Dept, 5, A Swat team was on standby, 6. A helicopter was on standby for whatever reason.

I came to find out through my attorneys Petition for Discovery that this was supposedly an investigation into charges that I was trafficking Marijuana to Lexington, Ky. Selling Controlled substances, and possessed huge amounts of pills that were allegedly sold by me. This was all based on two anonymous tips from April to October and was told that my neighbors had all been interviewed and there was irrefutable evidence.
On the warrant, my name was spelled wrong and SSN was not correct, my wife’s Birthdate was wrong and the Petition for discovery showed that the only evidence that was found was that there was allegedly some Marijuana leaves in my trash can which is located 750-800 ft from my residence on a highly traveled public highway.
My contention is that if there was this many funds allocated and wasted by this investigation, why was not one neighbor I have spoken with interviewed, why was there not one person who could corroborate that I had sold anything of any type to anyone and why were the names on the warrant and other information wrong.. That pot could have been placed in my trash by anyone who drives on US68 which is a major highway.
My concern is that if they had truly investigated me, they would have known there was no traffic by anyone except my Pastor and friends locally I attend church with who visit rarely. 10 days later my wife was arrested on the same charges and we were both held on 10,000 dollar cash bonds each.
As a result, My Blood pressure medicine, my pain medicine, and my seizure medicines were withheld from me by the local authorities. They were in proper containers, recently dispensed by the VA Hospital and had the proper amounts in them. and I wound up spending four days in the local hospital being stabilized from seizures, dehydration and acute anxiety attacks.
I have still not fully recovered and will probably never be able to regain any sort of composure after this incident. thank God, my neighbors knew of my medical condition and when they heard the story, went voluntarily and got the money to get me out of that jail before I died. My wife had no sort of prior record and I did have prior convictions from when I was experiencing a severe case of PTSD in the time frame of 1975-1979. if this is not an utter waste of our tax dollars and an overkill attitude by these agencies, I would like to know why.
I sincerely believe that someone needs to look into why this incident occurred and why there was such shoddy information used to obtain a warrant when a simple phone call to the local Law enforcement would have netted the same results at a much greater savings in both money and my health. Plus the humiliation and way we were treated by this/these agencies was absurd and needless.
My wife was a substitute school teacher and was immediately relieved of her job which she loved, we are both active in the Church and local community affairs and I am a huge advocate in trying to help our kids stay away from drugs and also voluntarily try to help our returning veterans get the help they so badly need upon their return.
I am sure I will never see this on the news because it is dominated by those who have already become celebrities for whatever reasons. But I thought that someone should come and look into this matter.
I feel there is more to this than just what is being told in the local papers. I have at least voiced my thoughts on what I consider a travesty on someone who volunteered to serve their country and as a result am being persecuted for it.
Thank you for your time and I hope someone will read this and take an interest.

Sgt Robert E Silvey USAF/DOD 25 years (ret)

TO NORML

i think marijuana may also be applicable to treat people with bi polar. i have been off all medication for 4 years now thanks to marijuana. it levels me out. tell your buddies please so others such as myself might get the help they need so desperately