Veteran support
Marijuana For Trauma wellness centre opens in capital
Veteran Jim Grant of Brackley credits a medical marijuana support service with giving him a fresh, energetic new lease on life.
The 78-year-old Grant failed to access medical marijuana until he turned to Marijuana For Trauma (MTF) in New Brunswick for assistance. The company helped guide him through the hoops and hurdles to get on the federal medical marijuana program. The positive impact was immediate and major when Grant started using the drug three months ago to help address the PTSD he links to “a number of tragic events’’ during his lengthy career with the Canadian navy. Sleep apnea — a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder — had hounded him for years. He rarely managed to stay asleep for more than 90 minutes before waking to horrific flashbacks. Today, thanks to the calming and soothing impact of medical marijuana consumption, Grant enjoys five to six hours straight of solid sleep, injecting him with newfound strength and energy. He has been able to resume playing with great zeal his beloved sport of golf. “Without sounding overly melodramatic – and I say this to everybody – these people (at MTF) have given me back whatever life the good Lord has left for me,’’ says Grant. Two veterans who were victims of PTSD established MTF in 2013. Medical marijuana, notes MTF national business manager Jean-Guy Bourguignon, was instrumental in stabilizing their condition, enabling them to effectively engage in counselling and other therapies. “Having experienced firsthand the hurdles to accessing medical marijuana, they refused to continue watching fellow veterans descend into the nightmare of depression, anxiety, dependencies, divorce and even suicide,’’ Bourguignon said Wednesday as the 10th MTF wellness centre — and first on P.E.I. — was opened in the Kirkwood Mews in Charlottetown. MTF, stressed Bourguignon, does not dispense marijuana. Instead, he noted, the company facilitates and supports safe and responsible patient access to medically prescribed cannabis by providing access to knowledgeable physicians, navigating the medical and pension benefits maze and linking clients with appropriate licensed producers of medicalgrade marijuana.
MFT also offers specialized support programs, peer networks and wellness programs, with particular expertise in the needs of veterans, police and first responders. Bourguignon says many have reached out to MFT on behalf of veterans who have been reduced to “glossy-eyed zombies’’ due to PTSD.
“Wives call us, children call us, (saying) ‘please, come help my father: he’s been in the basement for three months,’ ’’ he said. “MFT’s vision,’’ he added, “is to ultimately incorporate allied health services, including psychologists, social workers, oxygen therapy, RMTs and others. The result will be an integrated approach, ensuring that we are indeed the gold standard for PTSD treatment.’’