TW: Suicide -- For Veterans in crisis, call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1

The staff at Veterans Affairs Hospital do the hard work of treating our war veterans. But staff shortages and long wait times mean many vets still don’t get the care they need for the physical and mental issues associated with military life.

As medical marijuana laws expand, more veterans are seeing MMJ doctors patch the gap in their healthcare needs. A growing number of vets report finding cannabis helps with PTSD, pain, anxiety, depression, and other service-related ailments. But cannabis is still federally illegal, and we're a long way off seeing it prescribed by VA doctors.

In this episode, host (and veteran spouse) Brit Smith welcomes former Army Staff Sergeant Philip Lafountaine, the head of Retail and Security at 6Bricks dispensary in Springfield, Mass., to talk about how cannabis can help military veterans.

SSG Lafountaine is a husband and father of three. Just a few years ago, he was a Team Sergeant in the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Special Operations: Airborne), with the 1st Special Forces Command in Fort Bragg, N.C. But none of that seemed to shake him. It wasn't until he was leaving the military that he started dealing with severe panic attacks, crippling anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Like millions of other veterans, Philip found cannabis was the only thing that helped him adjust to civilian life.

Brit and Philip discuss his military experience, his transition into life after the Army, the medicines and therapies that did and didn't work for him at the VA, and how he found cannabis to be the perfect medicine and community to help him survive suicidal thoughts and deep depression. Now, as part of the leadership team at 6Bricks dispensary in Springfield, he helps to individually guide fellow veterans and other adult cannabis consumers so they can also find the perfect cannabis products to help better their own lives.

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