I have been using the closest Medical Veteran Hospital for my Chronic Pain for the past 6 months.  The VA has come out with a new policy where they treat pain as a normal vital check.  So in other words, whenever you are seen at the VA hospital they take your blood pressure, temperature and ask you to rate your pain. 

I am also still waiting for my Disability rating from the VA and I am being sent to specialists for this pain.  When they decided to put me on an Opioid based medication I was told that I needed to sign a contract.  This contract (although I can not quote says things like

I understand that these medications may not eliminate my pain but may reduce it and improve what I am able to do each day.

I understand this.  I understand that any substance that I take for my pain may not make me whole again and may not allow me to live a completely normal life.  This is common sense.  Why must I sign a contract stating this?

There are a lot of things on this contract that I understand and that I can actually agree with like the things on there that say I will let my provider and emergency room staff know of all medications I am taking.  NO KIDDING...  I will keep all medications out of the reach of my children...  I will not sell or share my medication, (I need it why would I get rid of it?)

Then the contract really starts to annoy me when it goes to things like

agree to participate in any medical, psychological or psychiatric assessments recommended by my provider

Okay if a doctor suggests something then yeah I will probably follow though with it.  But I will not sign something that says I will agree no matter what they say.

Now here is where I get really pissed off. 

I will consent to random drug screening to assure I am only taking prescribed drugs. I understand that a drug screen is a laboratory test in which a sample of my urine or blood is checked to see what drugs I have been taking

My Doctor is not going to do a drug test on me.  There is no reason for this.  I am subject to random drug testing for my job and I am telling him that I am not taking any illegal drug.  That should be good enough for him.  But in anycase, He is giving me a very addictive medication and I can understand his worries.  So I will over look this and keep reading the contract.

Then after reading things like the above along with the fact that I can not cancel appointments, ask for more medication if it was lost or stolen, get medication from another doctor and I will not change my dosage even if I do not feel a need for it at this moment so I skip a dose.  The VA actually expects me to sign it when they add:

understand that this provider may stop prescribing the medications listed if:

•I do not show any improvement in pain or my activity has not improved.

•I develop rapid tolerance or loss of improvement from the treatment.

•I develop significant sidef ecetfs from the medication.

•My behavior is inconsistent with the responsibilities outlined above, which may also result in being prevented from receiving further care from this clinic.

Okay, why is this bad?  If I sign this contract from the VA Hospital that is saying that even if I live in a state where Medical Marijuana is legal I can not go to another Doctor to get a perscription.  The use of the VA hospital for my service connected disability is free and I pay $7.50 per perscription.  The VA is a federal installation and therefore can not by law provide me with Marijuana.  So I would void the contract by taking marijuana then by signing this I authorized them to do a drug test which they can do whenever they want with out telling me.  This would make it so I could actually lose my priviledge to use the VA for my medical needs.

After discussions with other disabled Veterans I have found that there are a lot of us out there that know the benefits of Medical Marijuana and have refused to sign this contract.  Therefore I am going to let all Veterans know do not sign this contract.  You are authorized to find other means to get the medical assistance you need without the attachment of Politics.  You do however need to make sure the VA gets a copy of all medical records from any other physician that you see so the VA can determine the progress of your disability rating.  If you find out that you are in the same situation that I am in please go to http://www.veteransformedicalmarijuana.org/ and ask how you can help.