Veterans and Cannabis: Interview with Steve Ellmore

Madeline Colli: Hello, my name is Madeline Colli and I am the editor of Cannabis Science and Technology Magazine. Today I am joined by Steve Elmore, veteran, filmmaker, and founder of the Unprescribed. Can you describe how cannabis, specifically, helped manage symptoms of chronic pain or inflammation that traditional pharmaceuticals prescribed during your military transition failed to address?

Steve Ellmore: I know Dr. Sicily was studying it for PTSD, and I don't think there really have been too many studies. I actually couldn't name one, specifically around pain for veterans at least.

What I'm concerned about more than anything is legalization. It's tossed around as a political tool right now. Andeven the current president had teased that he might approve it. I don't even think he has any clue one way or another and that it's whatever somebody's whispering in the ear at the time.

I still think the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Association, they're using it for a crime busting tool. And I don't think they're going to let go. That's always been my concern. So, I'm concerned more about legislation and we can't really have the studies that we need for the pain until we can get it approved.

Because I know Dr. Sicily went through the process, she's the only one that stuck it out basically. That’s always going to be an uphill battle, so that's why I don't really know. And the attention has gone towards MDMA research and psilocybin and a few other things, and that's great.

They are doing a lot of things focusing on veterans in the areas of pain, PTSD, and other areas. So, I really think we should seriously look at cannabinoids and truly find out which ones are beneficial for medical ailments, and I think we need some more science behind it.

Colli: Yeah, there definitely, definitely needs to be more research on cannabis. Cannabis needs to be researched for different medical conditions because I think it can be utilized for a lot more things. I know it helps cancer patients with conditions such as nausea, but I feel like there's so many other possible uses that we either A, don't know yet or B, we know a little bit about right now, but we just don't have enough research right now to justify those claims.

Ellmore: Yeah. And we need to eliminate the hype and the things that are really just snake oil and that's my concern. When you start hyping it up as this cure all. Then you start to go, “yeah, well, is it really good? Is it really going tohelp cancer patients?” Well, yeah. But it's being convoluted by partygoers and other things, and false promises of erectile dysfunction or whatever that they connect it to.

Colli: What is your perspective on the long-term difference between managing chronic pain with cannabis versus the long-term use of opioids, both in terms of physical side effects and quality of life? I know you mentioned that you use the plant more so for mental health and inflammation, so you could also relate this that way as well.

Ellmore: Actually, that's always been a reason for why I started Unprescribed. It was in 2017/2018, at the height of the opioid crisis. So, it was already foremost on my mind and that's what I was looking at it for veterans, not myself, but the ones I interviewed who were affected by traumatic pain and other injuries.

As far as the long, the long-term use, it's not just opioids, but there's other painkillers. And personally, this is where I can give you an example of why it has been on my mind and why I jumped on the interview was because I had been given really heavy NSAIDs, I think.

For example, ibuprofen, but in the military that was it. We were always given like 600 or 800 milligrams of ibuprofen for everything. And that was why we called it Air Force Candy. Now that I'm older, they gave me two different drugs and they were both for inflammation and that's why my mind was on inflammation because the pharmacist asked me if I was taking both of them because she said that they both could cause stomach irritation and she cautioned me to wait on one prescription until I finished the other.

I had gotten switched over to the second one because I had exhausted the first one. Then I had made sure I had it with food. So I went out to a big dinner with my family, and it was Asian food, so it was spicy. But I also had a couple of shots of alcohol with that as well and the combination of everything, even though I'm eating with a whole lot of food, my stomach was tore up for days, like bent over in pain.

So, I had to stop taking that medicine altogether. So not even an opioid, but long-term use of any painkillers I think are having, have some detriment to them. And that's why I've always beenan advocate for cannabis in general is because there's never been a recorded death related to cannabis whatsoever.

And the only side effects I can really see are, are just from the burning of the carbon and different things that are involved in the process. And I, I think it’s a very good alternative, even if it's not as strong as some of the other ones. I think it's a good thing for long term use. Maybe use the heavy drugs to get over the initial injury but use the cannabis plant for the long term healing until it's completely gone away or until you adapt.

Colli: The House recently passed a measure that would allow VA doctors to recommend medical cannabis to veterans, but this provision was ultimately left out of the final Senate spending bill. As a veteran, what is your reaction to this decision, and how important is it to you and the veteran community that this access be granted?

Ellmore: Well, just like I mentioned with the DEA and the conspiracy theories behind that, which I think there's enough science or enough facts out there to prove the same thing goes with this. I'm not shocked and I'm not surprised. In fact, I don't hold my breath on any news that I see.

I think those [cannabis legalization] are political promises and nothing more. And so I think it's great that we are recognizing veterans in that, and I know that even if it's lip service, the veteran community, we need to continue to fight, just like we did previously because it was very important when it came to our health records and our treatments at the VA. I'm not a VA patient, I have Tricare, but that was coming down between prescribing opioids for pain or them trying to treat it or not treat it. It's kind of like putting their head in the sand like an ostrich because they weren't really telling the veterans about the drug interactions because neither side wanted to talk about it.

So, I say many thanks to the veteran organizations that did get that pass to allow us to at least talk to our VA doctors, which was a step in the right direction. And that's where I hope that this eventually leads in the same perspective but, as far as my reaction on that legislation, I wasn't surprised, but it is very important to me.