Arizona clinic offers veterans discount on medical marijuana evaluations
Feb 10, 2015, 4:50 PM | Updated: 4:51 pm
2015 is the first year PTSD patients in Arizona can use medical marijuana, but to qualify for a license, patients must have a doctor’s recommendation.
“We make sure that the patient qualifies by the state rules and regulations,” Anna Nordin, a naturopathic physician at White Cranes Medical Center in Tempe, said.
The integrated health professional said her clinic is trying to get more veterans with PTSD through its doors by offering a discount.
“That would entice them more to come in and see this is just a regular medical clinic where we do everything else under the sun from A to Z,” she said.
According to Nordin, most veterans have a stigma about pot, and it keeps some PTSD patients from getting much-needed treatment.
“I want to reassure them that this is really nothing mysterious or anything that should cause anyone to be hesitant to come in,” she said. “It’s just a matter of educating people. They are not going to get stoned; they are not going to get high, but their pain is going to be relieved.”
The White Cranes physician said her clinic is offering the discount to help serve those who have served for the U.S.
“I’m an Army wife and I know (veterans are) financially not quite getting the income that they deserve, so I’m just very pro-military,” she said.
Nordin said veterans will be surprised how much medical marijuana can help with PTSD.
“The majority of my patients have anxiety, and this [drug] helps tremendously,” she said.
