Helping veterans access medical cannabis

VETERAN owned medicinal cannabis company The Provocatus is looking to to recruit GPs in the Gosford area to support an Australian first scheme in veteran healthcare, with more than 3,800 veterans living in the area.

The GP recruiting drive coincides with the inaugural Medicinal Cannabis Awareness Week from February 20-24, which is supported by The Provocatus.

The Provocatus is the brainchild of veterans Dr Michael Mumford, Kasey Mumford and James Gatley, and was launched in 2021 with the goal of deprescribing veterans from “cocktails of medications” and transitioning them to medicinal cannabis if appropriate.

“We were treating many people with chronic pain on huge amounts of opiates,” Mumford said.

“I was seeing more veterans coming though; I saw people I used to work with; happy, young, fit people who looked like zombies.

“That is when we started looking for the alternative.”

The Provocatus launched the Veteran Access Scheme (VAS) in February 2022 to simplify veteran access to medicinal cannabis.

“There are thousands of DVA patients across Australia eligible for DVA support,” Mumford said.

“Veterans face delays in treatment access given the processing times through the Department of Veteran Affairs.

“Because these barriers don’t exist for other patients, access to medicinal cannabis represents a health equity issue in Australia.”

Mumford said the success of the VAS means more general practitioners are needed to support the numbers of veterans seeking medicinal cannabis treatment.

“The Provocatus can provide GPs with a pathway to prescribe cannabis for patients without fragmenting their healthcare,” he said.

“We would love to chat with GPs who are caring for veterans or are considering medicinal cannabis as a treatment option for their patients.”

More information about The Provocatus can be found at www.theprovocatus.com, or by visiting Provocatus on Facebook.

Source:
Media release, Feb 14
The Provocatus