Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1442004
19 patient focus cannapatientcare.com december 2021 | cannabis patient care We found each other. So our mission is really just about taking what we know to be a very horrible reality, and giving voices to the voiceless." Belen believes that cannabis is another "tool in your tool belt," and that veterans across the board should have com- passionate access to that medicine right now. "It's an abso- lute shame that the plant, and that bureaucracy and all the BS that's kept it locked up, continues at this time. So that's why I have no issue holding the powers that be accountable. They should have delivery accessible in the form of a natural plant that's done nothing but serve this world good for hundreds of 1000s of years. "I'm not a politician. I'm a warrior. I've talked to lawmakers who literally looked me in the face, on both sides of the aisle, and said they would love to vote to get access, but that they have a political career to consider. So unfortunately, while they get it, they say that they can't support you publicly. And I hate to say it, but talking to politicians right now is like beat- ing a dead horse. "This has everything to do with humanitarianism. It has everything to do with every politician. At the end of the day, that politician has a beating heart. You can feel it. It beats every second. I need that politician to touch that heart be- fore they touch their political affiliation and make the deci- sion based on that. Because the second you pivot and run be- hind your party, you now have blood on your hands, because the veteran suicide numbers are not moving." Veterans like him battling PTSD will be participating in "the hardest battle of your life," Belen said. "But there is a way to get up every day, and be ultimately what you're always meant to be. It's never too late to be what you might have become." Michael Krawitz and Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access A friend of Air Force veteran Michael Krawitz observed him at work as executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access (VMCA) (10) and noted that activism is doing more than just helping others for a lot of these advocates, Krawitz in particular. "At one point, he just looked at me and said, 'You know, I just realized that you're getting a therapeutic benefit from this activism. That's why you're doing this.' And that's exactly it. We do get a therapeutic benefit from trying to do the right thing, from trying to help others get this (cannabis) We do get a therapeutic benefit from trying to do the right thing, from trying to help others get this cannabis medicine in the hands of those that can help save lives. It gives us a mission. – M I C H A E L K R A W I T Z Michael Krawitz Ron Millward speaking at a veteran rally.