When walking into the Killeen home of David Bass, one will hear reggae music played at a soft volume and be transfixed into a cozy atmosphere that will easily lull one to sleep. But despite his calm and friendly demeanor, Bass struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.
He may have left the war, but the war never left him.
“I had nightmares and was paranoid of everything. Even cars parked outside the house,” Bass said.
After leaving Iraq in 2005 while serving in the Army, Bass found himself with a litany of symptoms of PTSD and was later formerly diagnosed with the disorder by Veterans Affairs doctors.
Bass said he was originally prescribed pyschotropics — drugs that affect how the brain works — but the medication would bring him other problems.
“I was being treated at the VA in Temple, seeing a psychiatrist there on a regular basis, and in 2012 I told him that I really hate the side effects of these psychotropic pills and I don’t want to take them anymore,” Bass said.
One of the side effects that Bass said was the most alarming was suicide ideation. Despite the side effects, Bass’ doctor refused to take him off the medication and ordered him to continue taking the pills.
Desperate, Bass said he turned to the internet to see if there were other ways to treat PTSD and it was here when he found that some veterans were using cannabis to treat their PTSD.
“I started research on the internet about alternative treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder, and I discovered that there were veterans who were (using) cannabis for PTSD. I knew what marijuana was but I’ve never seen two words juxtaposed: medical and marijuana,” Bass said. “These veterans sounded legit. They were Vietnam veterans, Iraq veterans, and Afghanistan veterans. So, I purchased cannabis illegally in Austin and started using every day.”
While Bass admits he smoked marijuana occasionally when he was a teenager living in Oklahoma, when he joined the military, it immediately stopped.
“I was an officer in the Army and I would kick soldiers out for using marijuana because my entire career, the Army had a zero-tolerance policy,” Bass said, “I personally had a really hardcore negative attitude about marijuana, which is why I surprised myself in 2012 when I started using it but I was desperate to stop using those pills.”
Bass used cannabis throughout 2012 and within the year, he stopped using the pills.
“I was sleeping well, I was feeling great. And I was like ‘this works’. My brother and sister veterans were correct. Cannabis works for PTSD,” Bass said.
Bass was eager to share the word with others on how marijuana treated his PTSD, and within the year, he became the director of veteran outreach for the Texas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. About the same time, Bass also founded Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana.
Bass says the group’s sole purpose was to advocate at the Texas Legislature in Austin for medical marijuana program in Texas. The group has advocated for the past five sessions with plans to attend the 2023 session.
In 2015, Texas launched the “Compassionate Use Program” after a group of mothers successfully lobbied for the program due to cannabis oil effectively treating children with epilepsy. Since then, more conditions such as dementia and neurological diseases have been qualified for the program.
In 2021, Bass and Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana saw success when they were able to add PTSD as a qualified condition for the program.
“That was a huge victory for us, after five legislative sessions. Now veterans have the option to legally use cannabis as medicine to treat post traumatic disorder. On Sept. 1, 2021, I became a legal cannabis patient in Texas and I no longer had to use cannabis illegally and I was very happy with that. I’m a law abiding citizen, a voter, a home owner, and proud to live in Killeen and I didn’t want to break the law. I was very uncomfortable with that,” Bass said.
Bass said he does not smoke marijuana, but eats it in the form of gummies.
(5) comments
No Freddy, that is not what I said at all and you know it. I don't know anything about the individual you referenced. What I said is most people advocating the legalization of Marijuana are pot heads who want to smoke dope, which has been the case where it is legalized. You know that too. By the way I also am a veteran. I also have seen the destruction this dangerous drug does to users, especially kids.
I responded sarcastically to your comment because your comment had absolutely nothing to do with the story. If you want to comment about pot heads, that's fine, but do it when the article is about legalization of pot in general. This article was about someone who found relief from PTSD through the use of recently a recently legalized compassionate use THC product, nothing more.
Far too many people who advocate medical marijuana are fakes. They just want to smoke dope. This has been demonstrated in state after state that legalized the dangerous drug, marijuana
Are you saying this veteran is a fake?
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