Ari Rosenzweig is the CFO of CannaConnect, a healing facility that provides medical marijuana for veterans. Dennis LeBlanc is a military veteran who runs part of CannaConnect’s operations. Together, they discuss the benefits of medicinal marijuana and share whether or not they think recreational marijuana should be legal.

Ari: How medical marijuana is helping veterans thrive:

“A lot of these veterans were getting their lives back. They started using medical cannabis and they got control back of their lives. So, instead of being on some sort of opioid or prescription, and lots of prescriptions that say, ‘take this three times a day,’ they now are given access to cannabis.”

Ari: The crushing downside of opioids:

“The opioids have a lot of side effects, unfortunately. So, what happens is, to deal with that side effect you’re given another pharmaceutical, and then another one. So, we’ve heard this story over and over where, ‘I started with two pills and before the end of it I was taking 30 pills a day to get through life, but I wasn’t experiencing life.”

Ari: Why medical marijuana has been so successful:

“And the main key (to veterans thriving) is that they were able to control their own medicine. You gave the power back to the patient to say, ‘Hey, here’s access to five grams a day of cannabis. You decide what you want to take. You want to take this during the day, that at night, this in the morning, whatever it is.’ And these are very resourceful people. These are people who were able to go through the military program, go overseas, serve missions. They’re empowered people who need their power back. And we watched a lot of people regain their lives.”

Ari: A revelation from a medical doctor:

“One of the highlights for me in this entire business was the moment when we had a doctor who was working with us. And he started seeing patients and after about six months, he called me and said, “I can’t believe it. When these guys started with me and told me all the pharmaceuticals they’re on, and now six months later, they’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t take that anymore,’ … I’ve never seen anywhere, outside of a program where there’s cannabis, where people can get off of these heavy-duty pharmaceuticals.”

Dennis: How he felt when he returned from combat:

“I was left broken and without purpose (upon returning from the military). You’re left with an open space, and you really don’t know what to do. And then you add on some physical issues, chronic pain, and post traumatic stress disorder and trying to deal with that. … In the military you know exactly who you are. I was Captain Dennis LeBlanc and I knew where I fit in things, and then all of a sudden you’re back home and I didn’t know where I was and how I fit in. I was, at the time, taking copious amounts of pills just to get through my life.”

Dennis: Why medical cannabis works for him:

“The beauty with medical cannabis is that you know what the dosage is. So, you can actually use it as a medicine. … The transition into medical cannabis was not just the medial cannabis itself. It actually showed me how I could live a life of wellness and mindfulness.”

Dennis: Should recreational marijuana be legal:

“I think, definitely, it should be legal. But it definitely needs to be regulated. It should fall under the same regulations as alcohol and tobacco. Just because it could harm the user if it’s not regulated properly and with government oversight and managing that.”