Veterans...Get the hell in here now!

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Congress moves toward approving VA medical marijuana

By Travis J. Tritten

Stars and Stripes
Published: May 19, 2016



WASHINGTON – A proposal allowing doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical marijuana made major advances Thursday in Congress.

The House and Senate passed annual VA budget bills allowing the doctors to discuss and advise veteran patients to use the drug in states where it is legal.

The agreement on Capitol Hill greatly increases the likelihood that the new VA rules will be passed into law later this year when lawmakers hammer out a final budget agreement. Congress was divided on the issue in its budget bills last year and the pot proposal by lawmakers in Oregon and Montana ultimately failed.

“This is an historic moment and further proof there is real movement and bipartisan support in reforming outdated federal marijuana policies,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., one of the sponsors, said in a released statement.

In the House, the proposal was passed 233-189 as an amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill.

The vote could be key. The marijuana proposal was left out of the final budget passed by Congress last year after the House narrowly defeated the amendment in a 213-210 vote.

The Senate, which supported the measure last year, added it into its version of the VA budget bill during a committee hearing last month and overwhelmingly passed it as part of the appropriations bill during a floor vote.

Blumenauer said VA rules prohibit doctors from referring veterans to state-regulated medical marijuana programs, forcing those veterans out of the VA system to treat certain medical conditions.

Medical marijuana has been approved by 23 states and the District of Columbia for treatment of glaucoma, cancer, HIV and other afflictions.

Veterans are also advocating for access to marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, which might affect about 20 percent of the 1.8 million servicemembers deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the National Center for PTSD.

The VA has said it does not bar veterans who participate in the state programs from also participating in its federal pain management and substance abuse programs. However, veterans who do smoke pot for a medical condition could face treatment for drug abuse.

The department argues its hands are tied because the federal government considers marijuana an illegal drug, despite the moves to decriminalize and legalize it in various states.

The Obama administration has said it will not challenge the state laws or prosecute sellers of medical marijuana.
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Congress moves toward approving VA medical marijuana

By Travis J. Tritten

Stars and Stripes
Published: May 19, 2016



WASHINGTON – A proposal allowing doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical marijuana made major advances Thursday in Congress.

The House and Senate passed annual VA budget bills allowing the doctors to discuss and advise veteran patients to use the drug in states where it is legal.

The agreement on Capitol Hill greatly increases the likelihood that the new VA rules will be passed into law later this year when lawmakers hammer out a final budget agreement. Congress was divided on the issue in its budget bills last year and the pot proposal by lawmakers in Oregon and Montana ultimately failed.

“This is an historic moment and further proof there is real movement and bipartisan support in reforming outdated federal marijuana policies,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., one of the sponsors, said in a released statement.

In the House, the proposal was passed 233-189 as an amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill.

The vote could be key. The marijuana proposal was left out of the final budget passed by Congress last year after the House narrowly defeated the amendment in a 213-210 vote.

The Senate, which supported the measure last year, added it into its version of the VA budget bill during a committee hearing last month and overwhelmingly passed it as part of the appropriations bill during a floor vote.

Blumenauer said VA rules prohibit doctors from referring veterans to state-regulated medical marijuana programs, forcing those veterans out of the VA system to treat certain medical conditions.

Medical marijuana has been approved by 23 states and the District of Columbia for treatment of glaucoma, cancer, HIV and other afflictions.

Veterans are also advocating for access to marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, which might affect about 20 percent of the 1.8 million servicemembers deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the National Center for PTSD.

The VA has said it does not bar veterans who participate in the state programs from also participating in its federal pain management and substance abuse programs. However, veterans who do smoke pot for a medical condition could face treatment for drug abuse.

The department argues its hands are tied because the federal government considers marijuana an illegal drug, despite the moves to decriminalize and legalize it in various states.

The Obama administration has said it will not challenge the state laws or prosecute sellers of medical marijuana.
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BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Former Marine fired from job for lowering flag on Memorial Day

Published June 05, 2016
FoxNews.com


A former U.S. Marine said Friday he was fired from his contract job with Time Warner Cable in Charlotte after he lowered the American flag to half-staff on Memorial Day.

Allen Thornwell, 29, was thinking about his best friend, a former Marine who he said killed himself two years ago when he returned to the U.S., the Charlotte Observer reported.

The paper reported that Thornwell was fired Tuesday. The service that arranged the job for Thornwell said Time Warner told them they were disturbed by what was termed as “passion for the flag and (his) political affiliation.”

Thornwell said he remains in shock over his firing. Murphy Archibald, Thornwell’s attorney, said his client should have never lost his job.

“It’s disgraceful,” Archibald, who is a Vietnam vet, told the Observer. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He’s a veteran working on Memorial Day who corrected what he thought was a disrespectful flying of the American flag ... I would have taken it down myself.”

Thornwell, who was discharged in 2014, knew the U.S. Flag Code policy which states that the banner should be half-staff until noon on Memorial Day. Thornwell said the incident happened at around 2:30 p.m. He said he wishes now he had permission.

“I didn’t think of it as the property of Time Warner Cable,” he said. “It’s everybody’s flag.”

A Time Warner spokesman confirmed to the Charlotte Observer Friday that the former Marine “was no longer under contract” with the company but declined to provide further comment.

complete story here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article81658827.html
 

Singlemalt

Well-Known Member
Former Marine fired from job for lowering flag on Memorial Day

Published June 05, 2016
FoxNews.com


A former U.S. Marine said Friday he was fired from his contract job with Time Warner Cable in Charlotte after he lowered the American flag to half-staff on Memorial Day.

Allen Thornwell, 29, was thinking about his best friend, a former Marine who he said killed himself two years ago when he returned to the U.S., the Charlotte Observer reported.

The paper reported that Thornwell was fired Tuesday. The service that arranged the job for Thornwell said Time Warner told them they were disturbed by what was termed as “passion for the flag and (his) political affiliation.”

Thornwell said he remains in shock over his firing. Murphy Archibald, Thornwell’s attorney, said his client should have never lost his job.

“It’s disgraceful,” Archibald, who is a Vietnam vet, told the Observer. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He’s a veteran working on Memorial Day who corrected what he thought was a disrespectful flying of the American flag ... I would have taken it down myself.”

Thornwell, who was discharged in 2014, knew the U.S. Flag Code policy which states that the banner should be half-staff until noon on Memorial Day. Thornwell said the incident happened at around 2:30 p.m. He said he wishes now he had permission.

“I didn’t think of it as the property of Time Warner Cable,” he said. “It’s everybody’s flag.”

A Time Warner spokesman confirmed to the Charlotte Observer Friday that the former Marine “was no longer under contract” with the company but declined to provide further comment.

complete story here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article81658827.html
At least T-W admitted that was the reason for firing him. Not at all justification, but it's a bit refreshing to finally see a bald-faced admission rather than the standard equivocating; "poor performance review", "too many days of absences", or "refusal to comment as its a personnel issue" crap they(corps) usually spew.
 

Skeet Kuhn Dough

Well-Known Member
San Diego is some rough duty bro............What front were you on the surfers or the heads?
Not really either I suppose. I dated women here and there but I don't think I ever hung out with too many civilians. If I did it was pure happenstance that we were around each other. Most of my drinking buddies (all of them) were Navy. I really miss being able to visit Tijuana any time I feel like. Does anyone remember a club called Chicago's in Tijuana? :D
 

Big_Lou

Well-Known Member
My pop was over here when he was around 21....
(He didn't speak much about it, but when him and my 'uncles' - some biological, most just good friends - would get into the booze, they'd get loud and clown about the Nazis, heh...was never a violent or morose mood.)

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(Christmas dinner in Italy, 1943, stock photo.)

And over here less than ten years later....

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