A Vietnam veteran from eastern Kentucky says marijuana helped restore his quality of life, after experiencing chronic pain from a broken back and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Danny Belcher testified on Thursday (July 10) before the Kentucky Legislature’s Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee.
Belcher says pot allows him to lead a normal life and deal with nightmares he still has about combat in Southeast Asia.
“I’m just an average combat veteran who’s nothing special that marijuana will help one veteran out here to get over those nightmares. If it gives the quality of life back, why not do it instead of drugging these veterans up and destroying their liver, their lifestyle.” –Danny Belcher
Belcher says he keeps a cannabis pipe in his home and smokes it when memories of dead friends haunt his dreams at night. Marijuana, says Belcher, enables him to get through life far better than the painkillers he was once prescribed by doctors from the Veterans Administration.
Belcher is part of an organization that is urging state lawmakers to permit veterans access to medical marijuana.
