Former Combat Nurse Campaigns to Help Vets Fight PTSD with Cannabis

FAMU Editorial

Retired U.S. Air Force (USAF) nurse Cherissa Jackson, who served more than 23 years in the USAF and rose to the rank of captain, may have survived three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, where she witnessed the human toll of war, but years later she is still engaged in a battle that haunts her and hundreds of thousands of other combats veterans: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Jackson believes that PTSD is a serious mental health illness that afflicted vets should be able to counterattack with medical marijuana provided through the Veterans Affairs’ healthcare system, an option that’s prohibited because marijuana, regardless of its use, is illegal under federal law.

Jackson is the chief medical executive for AMVETS’ HEAL (Healthcare, Evaluations, Advocacy and Legislation) program, a leading proponent of medical marijuana as an effective treatment for vets with PTSD and other chronic health conditions.

She calls herself “America’s combat nurse” as she advocates for removing legal and bureaucratic barriers that keep vets from accessing a natural alternative to potentially addictive pharmaceuticals.

“I take this role very personally, and I’m out here every day fighting and advocating for veterans,” said Jackson, who wrote a memoir about her own struggles with PTSD, “At Peace, Not in Pieces: Powering Through the Pain.”

Jackson organized the first conference in the nation to educate veterans about the cannabis industry and the potential benefits of medical cannabis. The Veterans Alternative Healthcare Summit was held in 2021 on June 27, National PTSD Awareness Day, as a virtual event.

Conference topics included “Understanding the Endocannabinoid System and the Medical Benefits of Cannabis,” “Access to Medical Cannabis,” and “Cannabis Education & Research.” Dr. Patricia Green-Powell, executive director of Florida A&M’s Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative (MMERI), was a guest panelist on Education & Research discussion. Videos of every breakout session are posted online at www.amvetshealprogram.org/.

Jackson said her motivation to stage the summit was to energize an AMVETS resolution that calls for veterans to have access to medical marijuana and, more importantly, to add fuel to a movement to allow VA healthcare providers to recommend cannabis treatments. Currently, the VA only permits its physicians to talk about cannabis use with veterans.

“I think it’s very important for veterans to know they have options out here, and the option doesn’t always have to be an opioid,” she said.