breaking news
Australian Broadcasting Corp Alleges Military Veterans Have Been Targeted By Medicinal Cannabis Companies Via Social Media & Offered Free “Product”
Their Headline reads
Veterans targeted by medicinal cannabis businesses on social media spruiking free products and subscriptions.
In short:
Veterans are being targeted by social media ads offering access to “free” medicinal cannabis, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA).
VeteranCann supplied medicinal cannabis to a man with a record of cannabis addiction, who ended up in “borderline psychosis” and kept sending it even after he told them he was addicted.
Another patient was bombarded with texts to book an appointment, as the DVA confirms it funded $35.99 million of medicinal cannabis in 2023/2024.
The Report
At 4:16am a Brisbane navy veteran is desperately messaging the company which prescribes and sends him medicinal cannabis.
“I am addicted to THC and I shouldn’t be using it. I feel like I am having a mental health crisis and breakdown,” he pleads, hoping to put an end to the shipments.
It had been a swift downward spiral for 35-year-old Bill*, after he was targeted with a Facebook advertisement by the company VeteranCann.
The ads offered free access to “natural therapies” and claimed it was “backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA)”.
Despite his history of cannabis addiction being well-documented with the DVA, Bill was sent more than $1,700 worth of medicinal cannabis in less than a month after just one call with a VeteranCann doctor.
The 14 bottles — six containing the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — were paid for by the DVA.
“That was when I thought, ‘wow, these guys … might be a bit dodgy here. I can’t believe they’re sending me it so quickly’,” he said.
Struggling with his mental health, chronic pain and life with a newborn baby, some days Bill would drink entire bottles of the oil — bottles which should have lasted almost a month.
Within weeks he was in a “borderline drug-induced psychosis”, had taken sick leave from work and told his wife, who was caring for their baby, he felt like a “zombie”.
Despite informing VeteranCann he was addicted, he received another two shipments of the drugs.
“What is wrong with this system? Why should addictive medication be sent three times to a drug-addicted veteran?” he said.
Veterans big business for medicinal cannabis telehealth companies
Veterans represent a lucrative market for medicinal cannabis companies.
The DVA fully funds medicinal cannabis for veterans with specific conditions when other treatments have failed, and where there is evidence of a clinical benefit.
In the 2023-2024 financial year, it spent $35.99 million to fund medicinal cannabis for 8,455 veterans.
A DVA spokesperson confirmed 6 per cent of applications to fund medicinal cannabis products for veterans were rejected.
The ABC has spoken to veterans accusing major industry players of exploitative behaviour, including questionable marketing tactics, late night texts, offers of “free” medicinal cannabis, and ads targeting them through veteran support groups.
Bill said he told VeteranCann he was addicted to THC. (Supplied)
Army veteran Sandra* started the process to access medicinal cannabis for chronic pain through VeteranCann this year.
She said she had a 20-minute consultation with a nurse before being prescribed cannabis oil containing THC by a doctor she never spoke to.
The Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists warns products which contain high potency THC — the ingredient which gives users a “high” — should be avoided due to the risk of psychosis and weak evidence of efficacy in most conditions.
The DVA requires a written application from a veteran’s specialist before approving funding for higher doses of THC, or for multiple cannabis products.
VeteranCann invites veterans to use its “in-house advocate program” to get chronic pain or injury officially accepted by the DVA, as well as access to “partnered pain specialists” to unlock fully-funded treatment — including higher dose THC.
Sandra’s regular GP, Dr Kerry Summerscales, is a veteran herself.
She specialises in treating other veterans, and was shocked to see some of the high strength products her patients had been prescribed by online telehealth companies.
“I was really quite horrified on a few levels,” Dr Summerscales said.
“It’s like going straight in. ‘Oh yeah, here’s your fentanyl patch. Oh yeah, we won’t bother trying the Panadol first’.”
VeteranCann booked appointments for both Bill and Sandra with a “pain specialist” doctor, to help get DVA funding for higher doses of THC.
When Sandra didn’t follow up, she started receiving texts from a man called Geoff from VeteranCann offering to help gain free access to medicinal cannabis including “oil, flower and gummy bears”.
“The texts were a bit weird, because they just kept coming,” Sandra, who also lives with PTSD and ADHD, said.
Dr Summerscales said she was stunned when she saw the messages.
“I saw it as downright badgering, especially when you look at the times, at 9 o’clock at night there were texts,” she said.
A text message sent from Geoff to a customer asking if they would like another booking for medicinal cannabis “free for veterans”. (Supplied)
Eventually Sandra replied to Geoff, noting VeteranCann hadn’t consulted with her GP.
Geoff responded, “normally VeteranCann doctors don’t liaise with GPs”, before texting again to offer a follow-up call.
“Therein lies the issue,” Dr Summerscales said.
“(Veterans) do have chronic pain and some of them do have mental health issues and they are vulnerable in that way.
“If you’re not treating the patient holistically and you’re just prescribing the one medication in a five-minute consult, that’s not medicine. And that is what needs to be clamped down on.”
In a statement, VeteranCann told the ABC Geoff was a “trained and experienced veteran advocate” paid for “onboarding veterans”, but apologised for the messages which it said “should not have been sent”.
Geoff’s number was also featured in online veteran support groups, advertising VeteranCann including several run by registered charity Young Veterans
Read more including this
VeteranCann consultant terminated after misogynistic posts
VeteranCann is owned by Dispensed, a telehealth company under fire after patients with a history of psychosis were prescribed medicinal cannabis by the company. One was hospitalised and the other took his own life.
breaking news
And Today’s Mass CCC Drama Is… plot to “take out” O’Brien as punishment for investigating serious allegations of cover-ups, abuse and misconduct within the agency.
C/- Grant Smith – Ellis
I do hope there is a Netflix scriptwriter following his posts – all this would make a perfect update to Parks & Recreation or The Office..
Here’s a taste of the latest episode
In shocking development, former Massachusetts CCC Chair Shannon O’Brien alleges State Treasurer Deb Goldberg violated court order in an attempt to keep secret details about a plot within the CCC to “take out” O’Brien as punishment for investigating serious allegations of cover-ups, abuse and misconduct within the agency.
Furthermore, say O’Brien’s lawyers, Goldberg attempted to spread this incorrectly redacted document to the press in an attempt to obfuscate the serious allegations directed at CCC staff (and currently being hidden from the public by way of these risky redactions).
A section of Thursday’s motion from former CCC Chair Shannon O’Brien, alleging violations of a court order by State Treasurer Deb Goldberg. (Released via MassCourts, 2/13/25)
O’Brien, in turn, is asking the court to order the entire document unsealed for pubic review as a sanction for Goldberg violating the court’s specific instructions as to redactions.
“Given the nature of the underlying proceedings, and the asserted bases for Plaintiff’s removal as Chair of the CCC, the Court is, frankly, skeptical that the administrative record itself is likely to contain a significant amount of protected personal information that satisfied the narrow definition of same under SJC Rule 1:24,” said judge Robert B. Gordan (who is specially assigned to the matter) in a prior ruling instructing Goldberg as to how to go about filing the redacted document in question. Read more background about that ruling here – https://www.patreon.com/posts/121109593
A section of the original court order that O’Brien alleges Goldberg violated. (Released via MassCourts, 1/30/25)
Then, in a strong, rebuke to Goldberg, Judge Gordon went on to say, …[T]he Treasurer has not identified, and the Court has not located, any case authority suggesting that an administrative record filed in the context of a review under G.L.c. 249 Section 4 or G.C.c. 30A is subject to the broader strictures of [the Fair Information Practices Act/FIPA], to claims of attorney-client privileges asserted after the subject information was disclosed in an administrative proceeding, or to a privet promised of confidentiality that a governmental agency may have extended to a complaining employee, such as would justify impoundment or redaction of the administrative record on those grounds.”
In turn, Goldberg’s shocking decision to attempt to hide most of the document in question from public view may well draw the ire of the court upon review thereof.
A hearing on the matter has been requested, but not yet scheduled, in Suffolk Superior Court.
’Brien alleges that a group of CCC staff members –attempting to cover up serious allegations of abuse, misconduct and corruption– “took out” O’Brien with pre-textual smears after she attempted to reform the beleaguered regulatory juggernaut.
Goldberg, O’Brien further alleges, is attempting to hide documents related to O’Brien’s suspension (and eventual dismissal) that may show a plot by Nurys Camargo, Shawn Collins, Cedric Sinclair and other CCC personnel to “take out” O’Brien with pretextual allegations of misconduct. Those documents are currently being kept private by Goldberg’s office because of the explosive allegations of misconduct (directed at some of Goldberg’s friends/allies) included therein.
Plenty more at
breaking news
Royal Queen Seeds Fund Campaign In Germany Saying There’s A Lot of Poo In Illegal Weed.. and yes hilarity ensues with puns about smoking good shit
Karma Koala Podcast 234: Tom Church Litigator, Atlanta. Georgia is notorious on the law enforcement front….. “Our Firm Gets Charges Dismissed in Delta-8-THC Prosecution”
Virginia governor expected to veto recreational marijuana sales legislation
Just Say No to Marijuana!
Star signs and cannabis strains: March 2025 horoscopes
12 States That Could Legalize Cannabis in 2025
The Cannabis Industry is in a Free Fall
Trump research cuts threaten cannabis studies, poses rescheduling questions
Cocaine Hub Seized by Rebels, Thwarting Colombia’s ‘Total Peace’
SEO for Cannabis? – How to Build Top Rankings for Your Cannabis Brands in 2025
Montanans must activate to protect legalization in 2025
Distressed Cannabis Business Takeaways – Canna Law Blog™
United States: Alex Malyshev And Melinda Fellner Discuss The Intersection Of Tax And Cannabis In New Video Series – Part VI: Licensing (Video)
What you Need to Know
Drug Testing for Marijuana – The Joint Blog
NCIA Write About Their Equity Scholarship Program
It has been a wild news week – here’s how CBD and weed can help you relax
Cannabis, alcohol firm SNDL loses CA$372.4 million in 2022
A new April 20 cannabis contest includes a $40,000 purse
Your Go-To Source for Cannabis Logos and Designs
UArizona launches online cannabis compliance online course
-
Cannabis News2 years agoDistressed Cannabis Business Takeaways – Canna Law Blog™
-
One-Hit Wonders2 years agoUnited States: Alex Malyshev And Melinda Fellner Discuss The Intersection Of Tax And Cannabis In New Video Series – Part VI: Licensing (Video)
-
Cannabis 1012 years agoWhat you Need to Know
-
drug testing1 year agoDrug Testing for Marijuana – The Joint Blog
-
Education2 years agoNCIA Write About Their Equity Scholarship Program
-
Cannabis2 years agoIt has been a wild news week – here’s how CBD and weed can help you relax
-
Marijuana Business Daily2 years agoCannabis, alcohol firm SNDL loses CA$372.4 million in 2022
-
California2 years agoA new April 20 cannabis contest includes a $40,000 purse