+
More

A soldier could face life in prison after being caught growing marijuana to treat his PTSD.

No one should face punishment for seeking the treatment they need.

Up to 20% of U.S. military veterans deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan will likely return home with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is, as the name implies, a condition that affects people who have undergone particularly traumatizing events in their lives. It could be caused by things like being shot at, being attacked, a sexual assault, surviving a car wreck, or enduring a natural disaster, among others.

The four types of PTSD symptoms include reliving the traumatizing event, feeling the need to avoid situations that remind you of the event, experiencing negative changes to beliefs and feelings, and feeling jittery/startled.


People in the military are much more likely than the general public to live with PTSD due to their potential exposure to combat situations. PTSD symptoms that originate in combat situations are especially hard to live with untreated.


This soldier is filling out a mental health questionnaire. Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images.

As traditional PTSD treatment doesn't work for everyone, some people have found that using marijuana is a helpful alternative.

There's just one problem — while 23 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, the federal government still classifies it as a Schedule I drug (meaning that it has no medical use).

A survey found that more than 75% of doctors polled believe marijuana has medicinal use and would consider prescribing it if it were legal. And while it looks like the federal government might be inching closer to authorizing Veterans Administration doctors to offer the drug as treatment for PTSD, it's a work in progress.


Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.

This leaves some veterans with a difficult choice: leave their PTSD untreated or break the law.

PTSD can be absolutely debilitating if left untreated. While veterans living in one of the 23 states with legalized medical marijuana might be able to obtain a prescription from a non-VA doctor, that's not much help to those who don't live in those states.

Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images.

And it's this choice that led one Iraq and Afghanistan veteran to face charges that might put him in jail.

After multiple tours of duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, veteran Kristoffer Lewandowski returned home to his wife Whitney and their three children in Oklahoma. Like many veterans, Lewandowski suffers from PTSD.

In June 2014, Lewandowski's PTSD symptoms flared up. Whitney brought their children to the next door neighbor's house to try to de-escalate the situation. The police were called to help. When they arrived, however, they found something in addition to a man in the midst of a PTSD episode. They found several of Lewandowski's marijuana plants.

Police arrested and charged Lewandowski with felony marijuana cultivation and possession of drug paraphernalia, in addition to a domestic violence charge (although Whitney claims he never hit her).

Due tothe state's particularly harsh anti-drug laws, the charges against Lewandowski hold a maximum sentence of life in prison — for growing marijuana for treating the PTSD he has as a result of his military service to the U.S. It's absurd.

Making sure that those suffering from PTSD can get the treatment they need starts by pushing the government to change marijuana's Schedule I status.

As mentioned above, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

"Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence."

It seems a bit ridiculous that marijuana is considered among the most dangerous drugs, sharing its Schedule I status with drugs like heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. To put that in perspective, drugs like cocaine, Vicodin, and meth are all Schedule II (safer than Schedule I) drugs.

Yes, really.

Worse yet, keeping the Schedule I classification has made researching potential medical benefits significantly more difficult.

The Obama administration has the ability to reclassify marijuana to Schedule II. It just hasn't.

In a January 2014 interview with The New Yorker, President Obama stated, "I don't believe [marijuana] is more dangerous than alcohol."

So why hasn't the DEA (which falls under the purview of the Justice Department, part of the Executive branch) done anything about it? It's something totally within his power to do.

I don't know, either.

Note that reclassifying it doesn't mean making it totally legal and unregulated. It simply opens new doors to research. With that research, it might become easier for Congress to take action on legalizing the drug for medical use.

But while the government avoids addressing the issue, people like Kristoffer Lewandowski suffer the consequences of a broken system. It's time they took action.

@penslucero/TikTok

Pency Lucero taking in the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is a common bucket list adventure for many people. After all, it ticks a lot of boxes—being a dazzling light show, rich historical experience and scientific phenomenon all rolled into one. Plus there’s the uncertainty of it all, never quite knowing if you’ll witness a vivid streak of otherworldly colors dance across the sky…or simply see an oddly colored cloud. It’s nature’s slot machine, if you will.

Traveler and content creator Pency Lucero was willing to take that gamble. After thorough research, she stumbled upon an Airbnb in Rörbäck, Sweden with an actual picture of the northern lights shining above the cabin in the listing. With that kind of photo evidence, she felt good about her odds.

However, as soon as she landed, snow began falling so hard that the entire sky was “barely visible,” she told Upworthy. Martin, the Airbnb host, was nonetheless determined to do everything he could to ensure his guests got to see the spectacle, even offering to wake Lucero up in the middle of the night if he saw anything.

Then one night, the knock came.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pets

Ricky the kitten spent 2 weeks at Gramma and Grampa's and the photobook is everything

Gramma's adorably over-the-top book documenting Ricky's visit has people clamoring for more.

Ricky had many exciting adventures at Gramma and Grampa's house.

There are kitten lovers…and then there are Ricky's grandparents.

When Izzie Grass left her kitten, Ricky, with her parents for two weeks, she had no idea what was in store for her after she got him back. Not only had RIcky been well taken care of, but his adventures with his human grandparents were fully documented in a photobook created by Grass' mother, which she titled "Ricky Goes to Gramma's and Grampa's."

Keep ReadingShow less
Pop Culture

Guy shares the reason viral gym videos need to end, and it's so spot on

"If you can’t respect other people in a shared space, you don’t belong filming at all.”

“This sense of entitlement has gotten out of hand."

Gyms are communal spaces where people can come to improve their health, fitness and/or overall well-being.

However, it’s no secret that many gyms have also become a production studio of sorts where influencers can set up a tripod to demonstrate the most cutting-edge squatting technique or where the average Joe can take that obligatory gym selfie to prove that the workout did, in fact, happen.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with either of these activities. However, they have sparked a new kind of behavior in gymgoers where they feign extreme frustration if folks walk from one machine to the next or grab a piece of equipment and, heaven forbid, enter the frame.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

A group of vacationing young friends expose their buddy's secret: He's an 'airport dad'

Every friend group has at least one friend that winds up parenting the group.

A group of vacationing friends show an "airport dad" in action.

If you've ever traveled or gone out to a party or bar with a group of friends, then you've probably experienced the phenomenon of the "friend-parent." Now, this is a term I totally just made up, but I bet you recognize it. The friend-parent is the one that takes on the responsibility of corralling any stragglers, tossing out drinks that have been left unattended and generally making sure everyone stays safe.

A friend-parent was recently caught on video being an "airport dad" to his group of friends. Usually, you hear about women looking out for other women in a mother-hen sort of way, but this guy group just proved the friend-parent knows no gender. In a TikTok video from Johannes2o that currently has over 8.4 million views, a small group of guys are standing near each other with "POV: our friend is an airport dad" in text on the screen.

Keep ReadingShow less

Delivering packages AND safety.

Amazon delivery drivers don’t have the easiest job in the world. Sitting through traffic, working in extreme temperatures, hauling boxes … not exactly a fun time. So when a driver goes out of their way to be extra considerate—people notice.

One delivery driver has gone viral for the way she delivered a little bit of safety education, along with some lighthearted advice. The TikTok video of the encounter, which now has more than 4 million views, was shared by Jessica Huseman, who had only recently moved into her new house.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

A major UCLA study says that at least 65 species of animals laugh

If you've never seen a fox giggle, you're in for a treat.

Foxes giggle like children on helium.

Laughter is one of the most natural impulses in humans. Most babies start to laugh out loud at around 3 to 4 months, far earlier than they are able to speak or walk. Expressing enjoyment or delight comes naturally to us, but we're not the only creatures who communicate with giggles.

Researchers at UCLA have identified 65 species of animals who make "play vocalizations," or what we would consider laughter. Some of those vocalizations were already well documented—we've known for a while that apes and rats laugh—but others may come as a surprise. Along with a long list of primate species, domestic cows and dogs, foxes, seals, mongooses and three bird species are prone to laughter as well. (Many bird species can mimic human laughter, but that's not the same as making their own play vocalizations.)

Primatologist and UCLA anthropology graduate student Sasha Winkler and UCLA professor of communication Greg Bryant shared their findings in an article in the journal Bioacoustics.

Keep ReadingShow less