Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
For most of his life, veteran Thomas Mundell viewed marijuana as what it still is in Missouri: an illegal drug.
When he was growing up in a Southern Baptist home, Mundell’s parents frowned on drinking and drugs. But after serving in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq, the Purple Heart recipient and former Veterans of Foreign Wars commander—who was shot down 11 times and unexpectedly lost his ex-wife, a daughter, and a son in separate incidents—began to rely on painkillers and antidepressants to dull his grief and what he now realizes was post-traumatic stress disorder.
Then, during a trip to Colorado several years ago, his daughter Madasen passed him a joint. She later told him it was one of the only times she’d seen him laugh. “That’s when I started my education,” says Mundell, now 66, who no longer takes painkillers or antidepressants. “For 37 months, I have researched this plant, this industry, this culture. I could write a dissertation on medical cannabis now, and I have come to the conclusion that someday it may very well become the holy grail of natural medicine.”
He also believes that it can help fellow veterans in Missouri. This month, the Bridgeton resident will travel with other veterans to the Institute of Cannabis Research Conference as part of a trip organized by local chapters of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. That trip, called Project-22, is part of an effort to raise awareness of cannabis’ medicinal benefits in the hope that Missourians will vote to legalize it in 2018.
Mundell occupies a unique space: While polls show Democrats are often more likely than Republicans to support legalizing marijuana, Mundell voted for Donald Trump. Though Trump has been skeptical of recreational marijuana, he told Fox News last March, “Medical marijuana, 100 percent.”
Mundell is hopeful that he can convince more Republicans of medical marijuana’s benefits. And in Missouri, a consistently red state, legalization could depend on people like Mundell.
For the moment, however, there’s no guarantee that Missouri residents will get a chance to vote on the matter: Last year, medical marijuana proponents thought they’d gathered enough support to include it on ballots in November, but a judge invalidated 10,000 signatures from people who signed the petition in the wrong voting district, and the nonprofit backing the measure, New Approach Missouri, fell 2,000 signatures short. Still, proponents are confident. New Approach recently held trainings for volunteers who plan to collect signatures. “I think with the time that we have, we will certainly get it done for the 2018 election,” says attorney Michael Hill, a New Approach board member.
In the meantime, Mundell, who’s previously met with legislators and testified about other veterans’ issues, is dedicating himself to the legalization effort. At a 2015 hearing, Mundell grew emotional as he testified about his experiences with marijuana: “For the first time in a long time, I started doing what I’m doing right now. I started caring not only for others but for myself. I started thinking about things, and it relaxed me. At that time, I will admit to you all today, I was on 71 pills a day, and I take three now.”
Nonetheless, not all officials are convinced of medical marijuana’s benefits. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a report stating that “controlled studies have not been conducted to evaluate the safety or effectiveness of medical marijuana for PTSD. Thus, there is no evidence at this time that marijuana is an effective treatment for PTSD. In fact, research suggests that marijuana can be harmful to individuals with PTSD.” The lack of research is mainly due to the fact that the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug.
At a recent hearing, Missouri Narcotics Officers Association past president Jason Grellner argued against a proposed bill that would expand medical marijuana access to Missourians with such debilitating conditions as PTSD, saying it would put patients and physicians in vulnerable positions because of the drug’s Schedule 1 classification and lack of Food and Drug Administration approval. “We believe in research,” says Grellner.
“They are not taking care of people like I do,” contends State Rep. Jim Neely
(R–Cameron), the physician and veteran who introduced the bill. “I am trying to improve their quality of life.”
Through his work with the VFW, Mundell has also met injured veterans who’ve been helped by cannabis. On Project-22’s Facebook page, organizers have posted images of veterans deciding between cannabis and prescription pills.
Today, Mundell wishes he’d had a different mindset while his son, Thomas, a fellow veteran who served in Saudi Arabia, was alive. Thomas also had physical and psychological health problems and was abusing prescription medications, Mundell says. Thomas had told his dad he smoked occasionally. “I still didn’t get it,” recalls Mundell. “I told him, ‘Don’t smoke.’ He says, ‘OK, Dad. I won’t.’” Several weeks later, Thomas died after mixing vodka and prescription pills.
“I didn’t realize all the stuff he was going through psychologically,” Mundell says now. “People need to be able to set their personal feelings to the side and allow themselves to be educated on medical cannabis.”
