US ARMY Combat Veteran Jeremy Z uses cannabis for PTSD after the Iraq war.

Published Jan 13, 2025, 5:00 PM

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We need to find our You can follow us online at Cannabis Talk one on one. My men, Chris right here, mister Blue is at one Christopher right. I am at Joe Grande fifty two, and today we're going to talk to Jeremy who's a military vet who used cannabis and using cannabis for PTSD. But first off, Jeremy on behalf of all of us. We all seriously which I tell you all the time because we're personal friends, but we really want to sincerely thank you for your service and what you've done to serve our country. Greatly appreciate you doing that right on, Thank you so much. But let's get jump into it. Jeremy, First of all, what were you in the military?

So I was in field artillery. They call that a thirteen bravo, which is combat arms. So our basic training is at the time it was just men.

Is it our army, Navy, Air Force, Army, So you're an army guy.

Okay, okay, what's the difference between the Marines and the Army for those that don't know.

Well, the Marines are aquatic like Navy, so they're actually a branch of the Navy. And then Army and air Force are together as well, so the you know, that's kind of how they correlate.

But you know, the Marines would be you know, the.

Just more aquatic specialist and Army, you know, army would we got airborne and things like that. So yeah, they're they're very similar.

But are you biased in thinking that the army has more bad asses or who has the toughest guys? I know it's probably hard to say, but you know there's like, hey, where the bad asses are? Do you look at some of like you know, the Navy seals or who's the ones like the seals get a lot of you know.

Right right, Well, I'll tell you from my personal experience, it reminded me a little bit of like high school and the different sports like which sport is better? Football, soccer, baseball? You know, we military reminded you of that, right with the different branch.

So who was the football players because we all know the football players.

Soccer was pretty crazy exactly. I don't know, Doug. I was a wrestler, I swam, you know what.

We bag on each other at home, but when I was deployed, I noticed that we can bag on each other. But when it comes down to protecting, I mean, we're all Americans, you know.

Service the same.

Like I said, that's my experience in my opinion. You know, everyone has their own.

But get into the bagging issue.

Like when you bag, I want to know how that what's that close knit bagging? Like like when your boys are in the Navy? Are the Air Force like shut up, bere just flying a fricking cot. Yeah, you know what's what's the stereotypes that you guys know that I don't even know these internally.

They well, there's not a lot that I don't pay too much attention to the drama stuff, but there's some stuff like they'll they'll say like, oh, look, you know the smartest Army guy and it'll show them coloring a book something like that.

So the Armies get bashed the most. The Army.

The Marines get bashed as being like the jar head quote dumb ones.

Yeah, and their haircuts.

The Navy, Air Force, they're always like the princesses. You know, they always get taken care of the ball.

If you learn how to fly a jet, you've got to be really smart anyway, So they only take the princess.

Yeah, the princesses.

It's the top guns like Tom Cruise those movies.

Yeah, you know, they're always the ones that look pretty and stuff. So you know that's kind of where, you know, we're the rough in top.

So is it air Force the prettiest boys or is it Navy the prettiest boys?

You know, they kind of go hand in hand. They're like lesbian lovers. They're both pretty, you know.

You know it's crazy, as you said, I never met a bad looking at air Force dude or Navy dude. They've all been so damn handsome. And the women are very sharp as well. They're not like you can meet an Army dude and he's overweight.

You're like, damn dog. Yeah the Army and he just got out right right right boot camp. You can get out of boot camp looking like pitt.

So being in the Army, yeah, here we go, hand it throw out one more time, shots fired.

So being in the army, you know what year were in the army?

So I went in in two thousand and five, right out of high school.

Okay, and then were you deployed anywhere? Let's talk about that for a second. Drive us through.

You know, you went through high school, you went into training.

Went into training.

So I signed up when I was seventeen, prior to the year of graduating, because I found out you can sign up with your parents.

You know, your parents were down right not at.

First, but you know, I pretty much told him, look at you're helping me out.

If you sign now, I get the GI bill.

Well, no, it's just.

I get more time, you know, because they count that as your time.

Oh really, so if you're in early, if you if you commit early, right, that's when your clicker starts right, Okay.

Keeper takes on.

I don't remember the exact details of it, but it was something like it helps you out in some way. And so you know, at first, she wasn't she wasn't really with it, because it was in two thousand and four when I brought it up to her, and you know, the war was still you know, pretty going on, and then.

Uh or was that Iraq.

Iraq Warrior and then you know, so we signed up. I graduated in June. Left in July, went to Oklahoma, stayed there from July to November, then went on leave for about a month, and then it reported to Texas and on Valentine's Day was the day that I got on the plane to fly to begin my trip overseas.

So we flew to We made a few yeah, yeah, so we made a few stops.

You know, we stopped in like New York, and then we didn't walk around. They locked us in the airport, so we stopped in New York and then we went to Germany. I believe we went to Germany, and then from Germany we flew to Kuwait and then I think I think we were in Kuwait for a little while, you know, and then they break you down like into smaller groups as you go, so everyone starts reporting to where they're gonna go.

So, you know, some people stayed in Kuwait.

Some people do you know where you're going? Or they just start taking you and you.

Start yeah, I kind of, I was, I remember, I don't remember knowing exactly.

Who come on, you know, start pulling out huh yeah.

So you know, you as you get make way, you're making your way to your unit, and then you know, your chain of command knows where you're going. So by the time you get to your chain of command, then they're like, okay, you're going here, You're going here, and they start sending you off to these different bases.

So run me by that, because you're probably about eighteen years old in the airport going through you know, different states, and and again they keep you into the Did you sleep at the airports ever?

Yeah, so I believe we had some layovers and yeah, they didn't want us mingling with anybody paviliance. No, So the parts of the airport we get we would get off a plane into a designated area and then wait until we got on the next plane.

Gotcha.

Okay, So now now you get to you went to Iraq, you said, yeah, okay, so you get to Iraq.

You went straight there, straight to Iraq ad a boot camp. Right, Oh, so you're going straight to war?

Yeah?

Holy shit? Yeah, I mean that's a wake up call. Hey, did you know that when you were signing up the war was already going on?

It was already and I knew I was going, but I.

Was So you signed up to go to war?

Right, But I mean I was eighteen years I was seventeen.

You didn't kind of really know, did you.

Yeah.

I wasn't really comprehending exactly.

I wouldn't think you war was going to be like.

Right, I didn't really like I don't know my mind just like what I know now, like wasn't what I was thinking when I signed up. Sure, so I didn't really comprehend the severity of the situation, I guess, you know. And so I mean, like I said, everything I talk about is my own person opinion.

It's just my perspective on things.

You know, I met a lot of vets who are super gung ho, and you know, they're they're down for it. Personally me, I don't think anyone's missing anything by not being deployed.

You know.

I think it's great to sign up. I think it's great to support, you know, But if you're one of those people. I've met plenty of people in the military who were in five years prior to me joining and they had never been deployed.

I don't have no hate for them. I'm not mad at them.

I'm not.

It's just but is that is that by choice they get deployed or I mean, just it's just happened.

They it just happens, you know, they get the right job because there's we need people at base too, you know, the place right, So you know, sometimes it just works out for people and they and they end up getting like what feels like a nine to five type job in the military. And uh, you know, so, like I said, some people, you know, they they that's another internal thing about being in the service is you know, they they call.

It a a pog.

So, so if you were something, yeah, person other than grunt. So if you were not some kind of like combat arms unit, then there's always this like weird stigma between people who did do combat arms against people who didn't, right, and so, like I said, me personally, none of my friends that I served, I don't think any of us have any weird like we don't treat them any less then, But there are people in the military who feel like.

Oh, I'm a soldier, you're not.

Yeah, you know real, Oh so the the biases I went out and fought for us, even though you were partly supporting doing what you need to do inside of building four hundred.

Thousand miles away from where the war was.

Exactly, I'm better than you because I risked my life. Yeah. You you've been in for six years. You've never been deployed.

I've been in for so you know, there's always that weird internal conflict.

And like I said, you know, I did my patrols, my budget paid difference.

As you say that, as I think you're going, yeah, one of these different high.

Risk I mean you think the high risk WODE will get paid more, right.

You do. So when you get deployed, when you're deployed overseas in the combat unit, you know, they have a like hazard paid type stuff, and then yeah, you get more pay.

You get tax free.

Oh you do.

Yeah, So everybody out.

There is making their their their paycheck tax free, which is an incentive for some of them to stay.

Not everybody wants to come back.

Sometimes they re enlist and they.

Stay for a whole other year.

Yet out there. Okay, So so let's let's do this.

Let's let's go to break and when we come back, let's talk about when you actually landed.

There and and and then you know, and when you started smoking weed. That's what I want to know, was it? After we'll figure it out. We'll be right back. Welcome back. We're here with Jeremy z.

I don't know if he wants to do a whole last name out there, we're gonna call him man Zema, man z Man, We'll call him z man z Man.

So let's talk about it.

Man, I mean, I like, I can only imagine and and one again, let me let me say this not only just to you, but to all veterans out there. You know, I might salute you our house, so we also lout you. Our hats are off to you.

You know, you guys have made our country rate and stood behind our country and lost your lives.

For our country. You know, so many found your minds.

Yeah, so many families and and and you know, so many veterans out there. So uh sitting next to us as a veteran that has used cannabis to help him to if you've just joined the show, and and you know, Jeremy tell us about when you get to deployment.

You end up in Iraq, and now you're in Iraq somewhere you've never been where you end up explained that.

So I ended up near a city called Ntjof, which is south of Baghdad.

And it's it's.

Kind of basically like a smaller in the middle of nowhere, little crap hole.

Did you think of the group outcast when you got there? When you thought of bombs over a bag?

Because every time I hear bag, Dad, I think about the plane. Did you land the plane? Did you jump out of a plane?

No?

Yeah, we landed, you know, Uh, like I said, they broke us down. So we went from planes to helicopters and you know, getting closer and closer closer in Calcomber and it was just like hrting cattle. You know, you're just everyone's lined up, you got two huge Duffel bags and you don't even really know where you're going. You're just kind of following the guy in front of you.

Wow. And that's considered the field military. What was it called a gain that you were filled?

What?

Field artillery?

Field artillery? So what what did that entail? Are you like one of the front guys that.

Are so.

My technical job was field artillery, which is like to just so you can visualize like tanks. So we loaded up you know, the missiles and then they shoot them far distance.

We trained distance, far up and I was like, heystance my pants.

But but when we got to Iraq, there was only I believe there was only one other unit actually actually really doing artillery.

The rest of us just did infantry. So I was a gunner.

I was on top of the Humvy, so I had a two four nine Bravo machine gun, and then I had my sixteen and just two of them, yes, well ones mounted, ones mounted onto the onto the hunvy, so that's the one that's mounted.

And then you know, I just had my M sixteen.

But yeah, most of us, we all did basically infantry work.

We just did patrol. Some of us did raise.

So when you're talking about patrolling, I mean you get there, you have a base, right, so you get to base, you see other people that have been there for perhaps a year, six months, maybe longer for that matter. And then and then so from that point where what where do they deploy you into?

And then you know, let's actually let's be like a holiday in well no, no, yeah, let's talk about bass. How does base look?

I mean, you know there's a there chance there or there's buildings, so there is there weed.

So there's it's for the US military. It's absolutely illegal to have any sort of alcohol or drink out there unless you're in Kuwait on leave.

So in country, no you're you're you're not supposed to do, so we out of the question posed to not supposed to.

People find it gets shipped to them, you know, they they I don't want to give away our secrets, but it gets it makes its way to base, to our base.

Yeah, you know, and they know. I mean sometimes they.

Know, they know, but they turned the other cheek.

I mean sometimes got it in the way they got it in. Okay, it's just like the phones in prison. Phones in prison, but you're getting calls from your cousin in prison.

And yeah, they know.

It makes that Joe, Yeah.

Exactly because I snuck one in my ass. Okay, yeah, it makes it.

It definitely makes its way.

Shitty call.

Yeah, so it makes his way in there. So you guys are you guys are on base. And and now now when you start to see describe base for us, you know again of what it looks like for a civilian A.

Million of the movie the movie, Yeah what is it?

Yeah, they have so by the time I got out there, they had they had already made it more livable. So they had these like storage containers like the ones you see that are stored They were pretty much converted into living living quarters, and so you would share that you'd bunk, you know, you'd have a roommate in a container. In a container, okay, so that's better than a tent.

Oh yeah, because at a c oh way better than yeah, okays, yeah, you guys.

Are doing it. Huh, you beat up. You have your white nikes on.

You know, we have to a see a little bit.

But uh, once in a while, because it was a storage container's no insulation, Once in a while I'd wake up and the power was shut off, and I was thinking I was gonna die because we're sitting in a steel box asleep under the blankets.

Wow, the heat and the heat.

Would cook you sometimes and I remember waking up gasping for air, really not knowing what's going on.

Was everybody in there going hey.

Yeah, which is me and my roommate? And so you you'd know because you'd see everyone's door open.

Right all of a sudden, you know, the power would go out and and for us, at least for us, like like I said, my experience with my unit, we we were doing twelve hour shifts, so we would we would work be on guard, you know, for twelve straight hours, and then you'd be off for twelve hours, and in that twelve hours you had to call your family, do laundry, eat, you know, get haircut, watch a movie. You have twelve hours do whatever you want.

In twelve hours on twelve hours hours on, twelve hours off, seven days a week. Wow, if you're sleeping eight hours, you're not getting too much leisure time to do some fun.

Kind of what kind of food does the military provide for you, you know, in Kuwait or Iraq?

I'm sorry, it's uh, it's like cafeteria food, you know, like school cafeteria. You know, eggs, bacon, sausage. They have like a very pretty good variety of foods. But it's it's all like cafeteria.

Pretty systematic.

Yeah.

So at what point, Jeremy, as you were in the army and you know, did it get and.

However comfortable you are with sharing, where did it get?

Did it get so bad that obviously you come home and you're you know, dealing with PTSG and having to deal with cannabis.

What do we do that?

Because we're still at base, right, I want to take you want to keep walking through that? Yeah, I want to take cause I think it's gonna get interesting, right, so from base, where where do you I mean obviously just don't want to base.

Yeah, you don't just stay on base all day? What happens? Then you you do? You stayed at base the whole time.

Well, unless you're out doing patrols. Okay, so you know, like I said, you'd be on twelve on, twelve off. So sometimes we'd be you know, on twelve hours and then go on patrol and then you come back after you know, so many hours.

But other than that, you just stay on base.

It's like it's like living on a high school that there's nowhere to go. You got a cafeteria, can go to eat.

So that was your whole analogy. That was it, and then you came home. Yeah, so you have engagements? Did you guys have a lot of engagements that you had to deal with and.

You know we had there was people who were shooting mortars at people. You know, so it was random because you know, it's not planned. It's not like it's not like a front line and a front line. So you know, you have your buddies go out for days and days and days nothing happened, and then all of a sudden they get So.

You would leave for days at a time too.

I was actually living in the Joff in a building with about twelve I would say, about a team of twelve guys, and we lived in a building in the middle of the city, not on a compound. We were actually there was actually Iraqi's working on the first and second floor. That's how it was, just in the city and we were on a certain duty to protect someone and.

We lived in dislike, were you guys protecting an American?

It was an Iraqi official?

Wow?

Why would you guys have to protect the Iraqi official because they were given Americans information?

I yeah, you know, we didn't get a lot of details.

Just get your job, make sure that guy stays.

Alive, pretty much.

And then yeah, you know, because there was like a sort of civil war going on, because there was obviously people who didn't like us, didn't like.

Their locals working with us.

So we did have interpreters that lived in the city, you know, And sometimes they wouldn't show up for a few weeks, and then they'd show back up and we'd ask them what happened, and you know, their families were being threatened or they were being threatened for working with us.

Did home ever, because I'm a a uh dangerous place there, meaning like where in that building there?

Like did it was there a point where you felt like, oh gosh, like we're in danger, you know, or did you just feel cold and comfortable the whole time?

Was it nice? Yeah?

I mean, you know, you're always on edge. But that fob duke is where we were at. That specific base had a long road to get to us, so we were in the middle of nowhere.

So where your base camp was. Yeah, so that when you're living in that building.

In the building, I mean you're in the city.

Yeah, you can get got by four directions easily.

They're just driving. We're in the city, We're we're on their territories. So we were we there was like one significant incidents where the Special Forces came and had to evacuate us out of the building because there's just like a lot of stuff going on and they're you know, they showed up and when they show up and say leave, you leave, And we went and we stayed on their compound for a few days because there's something real big going on and they brought us to their compound because there was no base around us. When we moved to that city in the job. We did that because we handed over fob Duke to the local Iraqis and so my team was on the rooftops. They had this whole ceremony, handed it over to the local Iraqis.

Then pretty much the entire base evacuated except for us. They left us there.

Wow.

And so that was that alone is already like a little nerve racking because they gave us a beacon. I'll never forget this, and it didn't really dawn on me until later on, but they gave us a beacon and they said, if you get attacked, the last person alive can set this beacon off and we'll send in.

You know, everybody support. Yeah, And so they left us, Yeah.

Send it in the first time as soon as we get attacked.

But yeah, I mean it was you know, like I said, I didn't like it's even being there because I was only eighteen nineteen years old. Even being there in that like moment in time, I still wasn't like I don't know if it was just me blocking out where I was or what I was doing out there, but I still wasn't fully comprehending, like like the realities.

Yeah, I can die any second, anytime, I.

Knew it sucks anymore, and I knew I was miserable, and I was like, what am I doing?

Here? Is it?

When you got home and got older, a little older, and started to think about it, that it starts to affect you more like Y for me, how does the PTSD?

Did you feel it coming? Where? Where did it?

As you say that, I can only imagine mentally, you're taking me there, and I'm going, fuck, I was a young eighteen year old kid.

When I'm twenty two, I'm going, what the fuck? Was I thinking? Like?

How does it affect you? How did you know you needed help with PTSD?

Right?

So I didn't know that I needed help? Everyone around me knew I needed help.

And it started off.

That you're here with most military cats. I mean, they're trying to tell you, man, you're not being yourself.

Yeah, and you know when we came back.

You still need help. Bro, I'm just kidding. We all do, yeah, I mean we all do. Yeah, I'm in the same boat, an asshole, But don't talk about my journey. And then when you were staring at him right now, you'd be like, I.

Can't even tell which one to look at his eyes, his lips on his neck whatever either way, but go ahead.

How did you know?

So when we came back, me and my buddies, we partied hard, like more drinking and partying and just just and at the time, I thought I was just having a good time. I just thought it was fun, you know. I didn't even think like having PTSD or any sort of like you know, issues at all.

It wasn't even a thought.

And then it wasn't until I left Texas came home and I couldn't stop, couldn't stop what couldn't stop drinking? My drinking was off the charts, and everybody was like, you got a drinking problem, you got a drinking problem. And I'm like thinking, I'm looking at him, and I remember feeling in my brain, like feeling in my heart like no, I don't like I just like to have fun.

Like you guys are out of your mind.

I just like to have I'm not abusing it. I'm just having fun.

Right.

Yeah, Well that's what I think. You know, a lot of re addiction, yeah, exactly, Almost every addiction is Yeah.

So people used to tell me too, twenty one years plus later, Yeah, they were rights, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And uh, you know, It took me losing everything to like I had nowhere to go, lost my job, my family didn't want me around.

You think it was all due to drinking.

Yeah, I was due to drinking and just not. I just didn't trust anybody. I wasn't trusting people around me. I didn't trust the people that loved me, you know, I wasn't so I didn't trust them when they would tell me something, I.

Just was like blowing it off. I didn't trust anyone, you know.

And then uh, and then I noticed I was like paranoid all the time. And I realized that when I used to go party and hang out with all my army buddies, I didn't even realize that, like.

We were a group.

I felt comfortable. I felt safe, right, I had six of my boys with me. I was like, nothing's gonna happen, And nothing.

Ever did happen.

You know, we always had a good time. We never had any issues.

But I started going out to these really just janky dive bars by myself and just finding myself in these beauty, stressful situations.

We're gonna little basoline on your little back. Yeah, sorry, I'm reminiscent of my story. So I apologize. Here we go, he's he gets over. Yeah, I remember that day. What just happened there, That's how I met Blue. That was Blue, not Blue.

There.

You have a little correction there for Joe.

Got the condom hanging out together.

No, don't get graphic about my story. He didn't use protections exactly. They called me rocked off Joe.

But yeah, and he it was what happened afterwards that made him think about it.

When we come back to Jeremy, let's break real quick, come back and finish that story. Hold on, Jeremy, let's let's just go right back. So you're your back.

Your buddies are telling you you got problems and you're like, no, I don't.

You're drinking and dive bars. Now it's going to how bad and darker to.

Get for It got as low as I ever wanted to get in my life. And like I said, nobody in my family wanted me around.

I had one.

I had a little bit of extended family that was willing to accept me, and pretty much if it wasn't for them, I'd be living on the street.

But I mean I was sleeping in my truck for a little while. You know, no job you know, my my my.

Tags were expired, my license was inspired, no insurance, no job, like everything.

Was just falling apart.

And I remember, I don't remember the exact day, but I remember at one point it was like six thirty in the morning.

I stayed up all night waiting for the to be able to buy beer.

I stayed up all night because they started selling at six in the morning, So I stayed up all night.

You know, it was like six thirty in the morning. I had three thirty two ounce foot ices.

In front of me, and I remember drinking them, and I remember thinking, you know what, like I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to do this anymore, don't like I just I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. And uh, I began to, you know, start to change my life around. And I began to start looking for work and I started working. And what really was kind of the icing on the cake which solidified everything about changing my life was when my first daughter was going to be born. So when I found out that I was going to have a baby, that was like the whole life everything in life. It's like my whole world just spun around.

And you were still drinking at the time when you hear I was still.

I was still drinking, still partying, you know, And uh, can.

I get close and say, what is partying? Is it? Lines?

It?

Yeah?

Doing coke, you know, smoking.

Weed, anything harder than coke, like even meth or heroin or you know.

So I did do meth one time smoked it.

I was pissed drunk and had no clue what it was or you know what I was doing.

Watch more I have the Yeah, no, Joe's been so for twenty one years, but I love the math. Give me a line right now, yelling I've just been sober. I still got my labs and hocking Bakersfield.

Yeah, yeah, No.

I tried it once and it was probably the worst experience in my life.

Yeah, it was.

I but I completely one hundred percent understand how people can get addicted to it. After the first time, I totally get it, because it was about two or three days that I was like, oh maybe I could, maybe I could smoke one more, maybe I can do it again, you.

Know, And it tricked yourself in and I just kept telling myself. I was like, don't do it.

I was like, don't do it, stay away to it and never sit and then I never touched it again and I never will.

Yeah.

It was just like I said, it was the worst experience.

Let's talk cannabis.

Yeah, And how did cannabis jump in and say this is my savior? How does it like help save your life? Because I've heard you say this and I heard you talk about it. How does only cannabis become the way?

So it started off recreational, you know, it was part of my drinking habits. You know, if anybody had you know, good bud, I'd smoke. And I started to gradually just shift into smoking more and drinking less. And then I started to sort of like dabble into educating myself about it, and I started hearing more medical things about it and sort of you know, just in general. As time has gone on and information started coming out and people started talking about the medical benefits, I was like, hmm, maybe this is something that is like real, you know, maybe it's something that can help. So I started looking into it more, and I honestly think the mindset of willing to accept that it's now medicine and that this is going to help me get off of drinking or this will keep me off of the different pills, you know, because the VA prescribes you pills like candy.

Were you on pills as well?

I was at first, and they just make you They're like it's like being drunk. They make you feel loopy. I have friends that were taking pills from the VA and he had a seizure driving his car on the freeway and now he has to take pills to help wing him off those pills, to.

Take them, towing them off those pills.

Guy that I was sponsoring, he was in the v A in l A and killed himself after one year, and you know, thinking maybe it was the pills as he was sober for this first year, older gentleman. And it's still to this day makes me wonder, going what type of pills was he really on?

Have no clue.

And it's just, I mean there's so many and and uh, I mean it's amazing how many different pills there are.

And I think I'm going to dive into that fact. I'm going to find out how many pills are you know, are prescribed world? Yeah, period, I mean just exactly, I mean for this, this, this, this, and it's I mean all these different times.

I mean there's probably I can't even imagine that.

Well, they do a lot of somebody on here to talk about they do a lot of I think they call it off label prescribing, So they'll prescribe you pills based on the side effect.

Is what is what your side effects that you've had the side effect.

Of the side effect of the pill? Yeah, wow, do you want to do how bad?

You want to go down?

Kid?

A bad liver? You want the to come say hello to your night? Yeah, so some of the some of the what can they help you with?

They're not even prescribing it for what what that pill was meant for. They're giving it to you because of the side effect. And you know, like like they were giving me sorequil, which is a mild seizure medicine, you know, and that was to help me get sleep and stuff like that. I mean, I don't have a history of cazuars, but it was the side effect.

Of right, and then to help you stay awake, they give you a pill. Yeah.

I don't think I had any trouble staying awake. I was. I still stay awake a lot, you know.

Anyways, but cannabis has helped cannabis has kept me off of all of it. You know, I after doing some research and learning, I felt way more comfortable doing the cannabis. You know, you can't get addicted to it, can't overdose on it. You know, there's there's really I mean, the worst side effects I've experienced.

Is either sleeping too much or eating too much.

You think it'd be great if the people in the military can use cannabis when they're off work.

I think it's I think it should be.

I don't.

I mean, I knowing what we know now, it's it just boggles my mind because I mean, you could drink as much as you want in the military.

You can go to the bar, you can buy you know, bottles and bottles.

But the you know, you get addicted to it, people develop, you know, issues, and then they start going through withdraws, and then it it hinders their performance. You know, with cannabis, you know you can you're not gonna have withdrawals. So then when you're at work, you can be at work. You're not thinking about you're not addicted to us, you're not thinking about smoking. You just focus on your work. When you're off, you know, you take your medicine, but drinking, you know, you develop a drinking problem that starts to become you know, the forefront of your thoughts.

It's just scary to think what so many people go through in the military that you know when you're a young kid, especially when you enlist that you said you were seventeen, and how many others are out there, and I mean going back to previous wars and watching movies or the Vietnam vets that came back and being treated like shit, and in my opinion still till this day, a lot of military vets get treated like shit personally.

I believe that.

Look at the way the vas A ran and how fucking horrible they are. They can't get appointments, You can't get in there to see somebody when you risk your life to serve. They should have more than enough staff to support the veterans and they don't have it, and it's pathetic.

Hold on, let me let me say this.

The VA Hospital, and I know from from personal experience, Okay, they do provide a lot of service, So let's not just tear them down.

I'm not saying they don't, but I'm saying to get an appointment, to get in there when you need help and I'm suicidal, hold on, come by on Thursday Friday.

You know what, if you're lucky, that's two weeks Thursday.

It is.

It is a service that they provide for a lot of veterans. And you know, and my father, my dad died in the VA hospital. You know, was there a lot of times where he was pissed and definitely, you know, upset because of those reasons, or didn't get what he thought he should get or whether he thought he was told he was going to get when, you know, when when being a part of being a veteran.

And my point is they do so much. You're right, I think they will need to afford it to have them do more. No, we need to That's what I'm saying. I'm not saying what I'm not saying they don't do enough. I'm saying our country doesn't put enough in the VA to do everywhere, don't enough budgets. Yes, you know, they need to do it more. What they're doing is great. They need bigger budgets to do more because the country doesn't take care of them as well. Them and teachers have always been my complaint on what our country doesn't do right in my opinion, But it's random that you know.

You go to the VA. Did you ever have to go to the VA and deal with your drinking?

I mean, I've went to I've spoke at many AA meetings at the VAS across the lands.

So I'm just wondering you did they ever, ye, you're looking at that. I did.

I went to several group meetings.

And the thing with my like with the going to the VA too, is in a way it's almost like they're kind of playing against you, which makes it hard to be fully upfront with them, because you know, we get raided on our disability, and then you get a certain amount of pay based on this, so.

You can get you don't want to be too honest, you can.

Get fifty whatever it is, right. But let's say you know, you played football in high school and you go to the military. You come out and you're like, oh, my back's all messed up, and then they start interviewing you, and now the doctor's like, oh, so you played football in high school. They try to use that to make it more difficult to get your disability rating.

Wow.

So so you're like, but I hurt myself, you know, falling off of a tank while I was shooting and the tank.

Was and I twisted myself a comet.

But you're a line blacker for four years in high school.

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, So I get what you're saying. Now, that's a that's a horrible thing to feel like, you.

Know, and then that that goes with physical and mental you know, if you had some you know, broken family growing up, if you had some issues growing up, you know, they'll ask you like, how is your childhood?

You know, how are your parents?

How they treat you because they want to know if you had any prior Did you.

Know that before they started asking you those questions? Oh yeahds, No, No.

We warn each other, like I had a couple of older vets and some Vietnam vets and and they tell them, Yeah, they kind of they warn you because it's like they they they want to be they act like they're your friend, but really you say the wrong thing or you know, and next thing, you know, you just shot yourself in the foot and you're not gonna he.

Got abused by his father. You know, he's got a history, going to go out there and kill everyone.

So they cut you from your benefits because it's like it's not from wars, from his parents beating him.

He said it to doctor so and.

So exactly gotcha. So it kind of makes it a little bit tricky. So, you know, I'm I'm part of you know, different outside of the VA. I'm part of different you know, mental health groups. I'm part of different veterans groups. You know, I've met a lot of online vets that I talked to you that I've never met in person. But you know, we can relate to each other even through online. So even before the whole COVID lockdown thing, you know, there's an online community that you can be a part of.

You need to Well, let's do the high five with you, Jeremy, as we like to do with all of our guests that come on the show, and thank you for doing your service in the Army. Question number one, how old are you the first time you smoked? And where did you get it from?

I think I was about nine or ten.

Wow, so before you went to the army obviously, so he did have issues before.

He's a little stonero gave it to you.

I stole it from my stepdad.

Oh nice, Yeah, he was ara.

It was it was in a coin door, and he always had, you know, a little baggy and and I would just try to pinch off a little bit here and there and be.

Kind of weird to see if he would if he had a big ho deal though in there, he's like, wait a minute, there's.

A pipe in that deal, though, Mom, I wonder why you're lipping. That's a pipe, buddy, that's a pipe.

It's not a that kind of that kind of happened at a friend's house once, and I'll spend the night for me.

Yeah.

Yeah, you guys woke up with it, woke up with it in your back pocket?

Yeah, show what is put that away? To my friends?

Question number two of the High five with Jeremy z Man Army Fatigues wearing the.

Guy right now? What is your favorite way to use cannabis?

Blunt rolls?

Rolling up? What kind of swister?

I really liked that, the XXL nice ones.

Yeah, that's what I heard about you.

Question number three on the High five Craziest place you ever smoked weed?

Craziest place? No, no, actually there, yeah you're young, your hell.

I think maybe the craziest place was probably when I was in the army in our barracks.

Oh, so you were back in the army and you smoked with hi when you're in the army.

When we came back every periodically we would yeah, and uh it.

Was the military is getting high in that's a good idea.

It was sketchy, you know, because we're in the we're in the barracks and obviously like you could smell it a mile.

Oh really catching smoking there, like oh yeah, and I didn't know that really A quick yeah, you know, I mean you're not smoking blunt, you know you might Yeah, I want to hits in there.

But you know, are the barracks that we stayed in, we shared one bathroom and shower in the middle with two rooms.

No, that's a crazy place to smoke when you're federally illegal.

You'rey. That's a good one. That's good. That's very crazy.

Question number four of the high five. What is your go to munchie when you get high?

Almond milk and frosted.

It's all a drink, its home milk. It's the best thing Ever's so good. I love it. Costco like every we just had to get it yesterday. It's too A three pack of almond milk please, prot shakes.

Everything else question number five with the High five with a very special military veteran who uses cannabis for PTSD, Jeremy.

If you could smoke with anyone get or alive.

Who would be you know, honestly, I'd like to smoke with my uncle Gil. He passed away when I was about ten or eleven, and all of his friends that he's friends with. I kind of like, I'm in his spot. So I hang out with a lot of older gentlemen you know that were his friends growing up. And uh, you know, his name was Gil and he had cancer and he died, and and honestly, I'd like to smoke with him.

I smoked with my grandma.

So nice. How did that come about? Grandma? How does grandma? Does she pull out her statue? You know, yeah, I've had them both, I've seen. Yeah, how did that happen? Though?

You know, we're at my aunt Marcy's house. They had you know, my grandma lived with my aunt and uh, you know, she wasn't doing too good.

She was kind of sick, and so I just asked.

Her that, Grandma, you know, you're a smoke you want to smoke? And she was she was like, well, I don't really know how, but yeah, I'll smoke with you. And I asked my I go, can we smoke in here? She's like, I guess, so grandma said, well, so I rolled up a joint, you know, and and me and my Grandma's share to Jay.

Nice sad she's still with us.

No, she passed away.

So listen.

You know, if you're a vegan there and you you know, have PTSD and you want to share with it and be heard on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast with Cannabis Talk one on one, be sure to call us at one hundred four twenty nineteen eighty leave a message, tell.

Us your story about it.

I mean, we'd love to hear how it's helped you or how it hasn't helped you. You know, if PTSD is something that's real for you and you just want to share it with the world, and how cannabis is, like again, has helped you or maybe hasn't.

You know, it's Cannabis Talk one on one. Thank you Jeremy for being on the show.

Appreciate you, yeah, and again your services, and to all the veterans out there and to the people that are actually in duty right now, thank you guys all for your support.

It's Cannabis Talk one on one. If no one else loves you, we do pease.

Thank you for listening to Cannabis Talk one on one on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts

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