Veteran Advocates for Medical Cannabis in Indiana

Fifty-one-year-old Jeff Staker is a retired marine who spent 11 years as a sniper, served in operation Desert Storm and operation Desert Shield. Now he’s fighting a different kind of war for medical cannabis, and he’s gaining quite a reputation among legislators.

Indiana is not a state that has had much progress for medical cannabis patients. In fact, a medical cannabis bill hasn’t even made it to a committee hearing in the Indiana legislature for six years. Last year, a small movement was made for cannabis with the national American Legion, whose headquarters is located in Indianapolis, when the group petitioned congress to remove cannabis from the Schedule I substance list.

More recently though, the Indiana American Legion approved a resolution on January 15 that would support the American Legion’s stance from last year. It also calls for the current legislation to “remove restrictions from marijuana and reclassify it in a category that, at a minimum, will recognize cannabis as a drug with potential medical value.”

Staker began his career in political lobbying following the founding of Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis. “Politicians listen to veterans,” Staker said about his role. He and the organization present an argument that’s hard to beat: That through using cannabis, wounded veterans can be prevented from becoming addicted to prescription pain medication and can also receive treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or other mental illnesses. Staker told Indy Star that he had been taking painkillers for the past 10 years, eight of which he has used Oxycontin. So with that, Staker is challenging politicians to rethink the current law, and advises them not to underestimate cannabis’ potential. “I’m not smoking it,” he said. “I’m an advocate for using it for medical purposes. And I have a battle plan.”

Here’s hoping that Staker, among other veterans who could desperately use medical cannabis, can convince the state that the benefits outweigh the negatives. A few different bills have been introduced to Indian legislature so far (SB-255, HB-1316 and HB-1050) all of which attempt to lay out regulations to legalize medical cannabis in some form.