Ex-marine Jeff Staker is the new face of medical marijuana in Indiana as he leads other proponents in a push for medical marijuana in the state.
The 51-year-old father of five and grandfather of five has an impressive resume, serving in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. He worked as a sniper in the marines for 11 years.
Staker has a difficult task because a medical cannabis bill hasn’t reached a committee hearing in the Indiana legislature in the last six years. However, last summer, the national American Legion asked Congress to remove pot from a list of drugs that have no medical value.
Staker says that, “Politicians listen to veterans.”
He is the founder of Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis, which is a group meant to lobby for medical pot.
According to Staker and his supporters, medical pot can be used by veterans to deal with mental issues like post traumatic stress disorder as well as helping avoid addiction on pain medication.
Staker has stated that he has been on painkilling drugs for at least the past 10 years, including eight years on Oxycontin. He added that he asked his Veterans Administration doctor about medical marijuana after he built a resistance to the pain killers.
“He said, ‘You know, if I could prescribe it, I would in a heartbeat,” Staker said.
To legalize medical marijuana, a bill in the Indiana legislature, SB 255, sponsored by Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, would have to be passed. In the past, the Republican-controlled legislature has ignored Tallian’s bills on marijauana. Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary introduced an identical bill, HB 1316, in the House.
Rep. Chris Judy, R-Indianapolis is sponsoring a different bill, HB1050, that would allow use of medical marijuana if it’s prescribed by a licensed physician from out of state. Other bills address cannabis as a treatment for epilepsy and taxation of medical marijuana.
