Marijuana Vs. Anti-Depressants for PTSD
Marijuana Wins Hands Down

Dr. Phillip Leveque spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Pharmacologist, Forensic Toxicologist and Physician.

Image courtesy: vawatchdog.org

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I was asked by a healthcare professional at the Portland VA Hospital if I would help PTSD Veteran Victims to get permits to use legalized medical marijuana. I already had some Veteran patients from WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

The doctors and other healthcare professionals had heard from a sprinkling of Nam Vets that marijuana provided good relief PTSD and probably other battle related problems including pain from gunshots, mine blasts and almost anything else.

I told her yes and within two weeks I had more than 50 Nam Vets requesting my help. As part of their medical history I asked what previous medicines they had been given or prescribed.

I was astonished to review the lists. There were two main types: strong pain killers like Oxycontin and Morphine and every related pain killer.

Apparently many of these were given just to knock out the patients. These drugs are called narcotics because they CAUSE sleep.

Most PTSD victims have insomnia or difficulty going to or staying asleep. The second type of drugs were anti-depressants. Severe pain causes depression and some do enable sleep.

I was flabbergasted to read the anti-depressant list of many patients; Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, Lexapro, etc it goes on through the whole list of about 12.

The Vets were adamant about the miserable adverse side effects of both these kinds of drugs. I was familiar with the drugs like Morphine but the new class of anti-depressants had me baffled. I was also familiar with amphetamine type drugs which were stimulants which I originally assumed must be related in action to the anti-depressants.

Elavil was one of the first anti-depressants and it was a mild stimulant like a junior grade amphetamine but the newer ones were definitely in another ball park. The Vets complained that they were zombified by them and many stopped them and resorted to alcohol because of the illegality and scarceness of marijuana.

I checked my computer for anti-depressant dangers. I don’t shock easy but this was a shock. The FDA (Food & Drug Administration) reported that they caused a whole bunch of very bad adverse side effect including anxiety, depression, addiction, severe withdrawal, homicidal rage and suicide.

These PTSD Veterans didn’t need these adverse effects on top of PTSD.

Subsequent to my success with these Vets with marijuana I heard from Veterans all over the U.S. and the world that marijuana was better than both Morphine drugs and anti-depressants.

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Got a question or comment for Dr. Leveque?
Email him: Newsroom@Salem-News.com

More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole".
Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier

Watch for more streaming video question and answer segments about medical marijuana with Bonnie King and Dr. Phil Leveque.

Click on this link for other articles and video segments about PTSD and medical marijuana on Salem-News.com:
Dr. Leveque INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES

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i have had ptsd for five yars, ive been on almost anti- depressent and anti-psychotic there is. the sad thing is that im only twenty, and the best thing ive ever come across where drugs that render you unconscious and pot. im currently trying to get the state of alaska to give ma a card. any ideas that would speed up the process would be nice.

I have had some PTSD since i was a child because of the beatings i took from my parents. And then i fought in the first and second gulf wars, somalia and kosovo from the front seat of a combat trains truck. I am a four time combat veteran not of the horrors of a "Vietnam" type war but of a cumulitive type that most Gulf war era vets dont know they even have yet or seem to notice or even talk about. It starts with the episodes of extreme outofcontrol anger and always for no reason whatso ever. You need anger with PTSD to get you motivated to do anything at all because you just have no engergy. The list of symptoms is long and lonely and Nothing the VA gave me even remotely worked. Welliburton, Celexa, Prozac. sleeping pills. What a night mare... until i realized that Marijuana works and works well. I am cured but steps would be taken too stop me and my little cure if I ever tried to once again get a real job. So i live alone and in poverty. End of story? Legalize MJ please because Its real medicine for some people.

this is all going in a good direction! Im a 26 yrs.. OIF 100% sc.. for PTSD and other things but Pot has been the best thing ever I hate tacking a bucket of med everyday pots has made my life work the law is on the way of changing so hung in there guys

Hello,

Is there another email address for this doctor? The one provided is not working.

I suffer form severe PTSD. I have been diagnosed by a psychiatrist and am on SSI Disability because of it. I do not want to drink alcohol for many reasons. I tried antidepressants only to discover that I have Serotonin Syndrome, so I can't even take antidepressants. It was a horrible experience and it increased my anxiety and panic attacks. I have done much research and have read that Marijuana can help with PTSD. I tried it and it worked beautifully, without any side effects. I just don't want to engage in something illegal, so I do not use Marijuana currently. I also am a mother, so using Marijuana could risk me losing my children. CPS does not like mothers who use Marijuana for any reason. They do not bend on this. I feel that it will help my child in the long run to have a mother who does not have this anxiety. Having a toddler and PTSD is a difficult combination to deal with.

I ran into your article about Marijuana and PTSD online. I'm happy all of those Vets can use it and that you helped them. I'm wondering if you help people who have not served in a war, but who have PTSD due to severe abuse. I was so abused, that I suffer much physical pain too. I am allergic to Codeine and do not like the side effects of pain killers anyway. I have severe migraines, flashbacks, panic attacks and insomnia. Marijuana cured all of this. I had never tried an illegal drug before and don't want to again because of the risk of doing an illegal activity. I'm a law-abiding person. Is there any way you could help someone like me obtain a permit for Marijuana. I would not take it for recreation. It's against everything I believe in. I just really need help with my PTSD. I'm in counseling and that does help, but nearly enough. I've tried everything, including holistic treatments such as Yoga, Meditation, Kava and Aromatherapy. Nothing works and sometimes it seems as though my PTSD symptoms are getting worse. If you can't help me, could you perhaps point me in the right direction of someone who could help? Thanks, in advance.

Sincerely,
PTSD in Massachusetts

Editor: Hello Jill, I am sorry if our email is giving you a hard time, it has been coming up lately and we're trying to figure it out.  We also have the address salemnewsroom@gmail.com and I will make sure to get you in contact with the doc, thanks!

I'm a 100% combat disabled Vietnam Vet. Besides the physical problems, I'm also rated 100% for Combat PTSD (approx. 30yrs now). I was a USMC sniper in 1969 and 70. I live in Texas where Cannabis is illegal, so I don't do it and wouldn't know where to find it. I wish I could. I do not have friends who are drug dealers so, it's not available to me. I know for fact that it has saved my life and sanity. For years I refused VA treatment and grew my own cannabis out of self defence. I'm so fed up with the VA that I'm about to tell them where they can put their pills and go back to secretely growing my own. Thank god I'm allergic to Prozac, but they have me taking benzodiazepines, oxycodone IR, etc. I'm ready to flush them all. I've spoken to Dr. Leveque and his observations and conclusions are correct. NOTHING takes away the nightmares and stress like cannabis. I wish the world would wake up, I need help.

Cannabis is by far the superior drug. Also, for Gregorio, you should note that nicotine is more or less harmless--tobacco is not.

For all who are quick to judge those of us who suffer from a form of psychosis you can hardly immagine, let alone empathize with us... concerning the blood, guts and gore that haunts us daily and nightly with halucinations, feelings of fear and anxiety, torturous and repulsive nightmares that cause us to wake - fighting and gasping for air while soaked in sweat, that we dare not repeat in the open public for fear of public persecution rather than provide the necessary help need to get us through the torment. You say that's hogwash, "Who's going to persecute or put down any vet who opens up and shares what's in his mind". I say... All will. All who've yet to experience the moment they had to track down their enemy, shoot him and knife him in a hand to hand "Up in your face" life and death struggle to the last breath of their opponent. Have you ever watched any one die? Did you have to dig out your military partners remains from under collapsed buildings and utilized the decaying body parts like a puzzle to piece back in the "most logical" order in a lime bag to be sealed and sent back home to Mom. What do you think that does to our minds? Are you people really that F'in niave that you can't even put yourself in a war vets position and come to the quick realization that they need some pretty heavy counseling and medication? I have many mental disorders from my graphic and gut wrenching experience (that I almost wish I could put on video for the niave and judgemental to imbed the horrific experiences in their mind to be played over and over again as they do in mine! Perhaps then, we vets who suffer like no other can receive what we need to survive. I have been poked and prodded in my mind for 8 years going on nine. September 11th is what brought on my PTSD. I have been experimented on for 9 years. The Veterans Administration has broken me down. Through the coctails of medicine constantly changing, my metabolism slowed down. It wasn't until 100 pounds later that I realized the medication was causing me to gain weight. The experimental medication phase kept me depressed. I didn't notice my weight, I didn't care about life, or anything else for that matter. One day we finally reached a coctail that worked for the most part. All my psychiatric issues were being resolved except one. The haunting, horrific nightmares that cause me to wake sometimes swinging to strike my wife. Thank God she understands and loves me enough to help me through this. As I continue to suffer from nightmares, etc, someone introduced me to Marijuana. My nightmares disappeared. I could sleep for the first time in years! I slept so peaceful I didn't want to get up! I freaked because this was the answer I was looking for that the VA couldn't find in the hundreds of pills I took. So my current coctail of medication combine with nightly use of Marijuana has made my life normal again. Judge me if you will. But remember... I was hated overseas for you... America... The gut wrenching images that polute my mind and the fear and anxiety that pierces me daily were all taken in the name of YOUR defense to maintain the freedom of each and every one of you. If you're going to judge me because THC heals my nightmares, then let me take you to my favorite third world country where they like to sodomize American men and gang rape American women. When you return, don't be surprised if the first thing you do is light up a joint. I don't want to smoke it. I'd rather just get it as a pill. It's the THC I need, not the tar and crap that goes along with it. America, be real please and have compassion over your vets. If they need THC to function like a normal person, then get out of their way, stop casting stones, and welcome them with open arms.

I am not a vet of war, but a veteran of my childhood. I have had intense fears since the age of 2, nightmares since the first grade. I am 35 now. Using marijuana is the only way I have ever been released from the hell of my dreams. I am so thankful for it. I truly wish for it to be legal. I have sorrow for all that people suffer through, and just how blind that some can be to judge what they do not understand.

"CANNABIS" is the Correct name of the plant that grows everywhere, cash crop

Of course. Which is why it's illegal.

To friend February 13, 2009 9:59 pm I'm in East Tennessee.

I was prescribed Marijuana to help with nightmares from some very scary experiences in the jungles of VietNam. Here in California this is legal but the Feds keep saying it isn't. The marijuana helps me sleep and keeps the nightmares at bay. I only smoke one joint a day, half when I get home from work and half an hour before bed. So far my employer doesn't know or I could lose my job. As yet, with the very moderate dosages I take I haven't failed a drug test yet and have even passed a hair test so what my boss doesn't know won't hurt him but it sure does me a world of good.

The war on drugs, esp. THC, is a complete farce. Alcohol kills more Americans any other drug except nicotine, yet these two are the legal drugs while THC remains forbidden. To deprive suffering people of help is the true crime. I am certain that some day Dr. Leveque will be vindicated and that day cannot come soon enough.

My father is a Vietnam veteran and a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. He only recently started utilizing VA services and they, for a time, had him strung out on all sorts of pills, many of them exacerbating his already present problems rather than making them go away. Thank you so much for fighting for our vets; they shouldnt be treated like this.

vinnie - where in tn are you?

Plus marijuana has far less side effects especially for the elderly people. Great relief for a wide range of issues.

Skipper, not that I know anything about the V.A. and their often less than ethical practices, however I wanted to point out that Oxycontin and Oxycodone are two different drugs. Oxycontin is a much stronger version that has a time release coating while Oxycodone (non-generic name is Percocet) is 5 mg Oxycodone with typically 325 mg Acetaminophen (Tylenol). It's easy to get the two confused but there is a major difference. I hope you find the solution to alleviate your pain. Best wishes.

Oxycontin has been slowly shifted out of the public prescription sphere after all the numerous drug busts relating to it in recent years. There's a reason it's referred to as "hillbilly heroin". A horrible drug that should only be prescribed for the most severe pain, and sparingly even then. Kudos to Dr. Leveque for being willing to try alternatives to the established medical norm. PTSD is a horrible condition that many doctors seem to be at a total loss to deal with. While each case may be different, perhaps expanding our treatment options will finally provide a measure of relief for those unable to find relief by other means.

I am a Vietnam vet that just have been diagnosed with PTSD about 4 years ago. My Physiologist in the VA clinic told me she wished she could prescribe Marijuana for me but because of where I live in Tennessee that it's illegal. Hopefully some day in the near future this will change. Thank You for a glimmer of hope.

oxycontin is oxycodone

Oxycodone is a generic drug while Ocycontin is a time-release version and is a brand-name/patented drug...

I thought Dr. Leveque lost his license over the medical marijuana issue? Did he regain it?

Editor: Dr. Leveque has not sought to regain his license. To our great fortune, he is primarily writing articles for Salem-News.com. He still testifies in court as a forensic toxicologist. Dr. Leveque has written extensively about his experience with the Oregon Medical Board. You can search these articles on this site and Google by using his name and medical marijuana and Oregon Medical Board.

It is interesting that Dr. Leveque said that the Veterans Administration prescribed Oxycontin; when I asked for it (I have cronic severe pancreatitis), the V.A. told me it was a "non-formulary drug, and that they do not carry it.?" I have been prescribed Oxycodone; What gives?

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