Mark Alesia

mark.alesia@indystar.com

Jeff Staker spent 11 years in the Marines as a sniper. He served in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield.

He’s a 51-year-old father of five and grandfather of five who quotes Sun-Tzu’s “The Art of War.”

And he’s a leading advocate for medical marijuana in Indiana.

For six years, a medical marijuana bill hasn’t even made it to a committee hearing in the Indiana legislature. But Staker and others see the tide turning, perhaps even in Indiana. Last summer, the national American Legion, headquartered in Indianapolis, asked Congress to remove marijuana from a list of drugs with no medical purpose.

On Sunday, the Indiana American Legion approved a resolution supporting the national American Legion's position and calling on Indiana's legislature to "remove restrictions from marijuana and reclassify it in a category that, at a minimum, will recognize cannabis as a drug with potential medical value."

Staker’s foray into political lobbying started with founding Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabi, and is based on a simple idea.

“Politicians listen to veterans,” he said.

Staker and others contend that marijuana can prevent wounded veterans from getting addicted to pain medication and can help combat-related mental health issues such as post traumatic stress disorder.

A bill in the Indiana legislature, SB 255, sponsored by Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, would legalize medical marijuana. Previous medical marijuana bills introduced by Tallian have failed to gain much traction in the Republican-controlled legislature. An identical bill, HB 1316, was introduced in the House by Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary.

Another bill, HB1050, sponsored by Rep. Chris Judy, R-Fort Wayne, would allow use of medical marijuana if it's prescribed by a licensed physician from out of state. Other bills address cannabis as a treatment for epilepsy and taxation of medical marijuana.

Staker himself said he has been on painkilling drugs for at least the past 10 years, including eight years on Oxycontin. He said he was running out of medication before he was eligible for refills after building up a resistance to it. So he asked his Veterans Administration doctor about medical cannabis.

“He said, ‘You know, if I could prescribe it, I would in a heartbeat,” Staker said.

Staker, who's from Denver, Ind., north of Kokomo, said a member of his church told him a harrowing story about his son, a veteran who tried to quit Oxycontin.

“But he was so addicted that he went onto the streets to get it,” Staker said. “You know what’s cheaper? Heroin.”

The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, the main opponent of medical marijuana, sees the issue differently. IPAC’s website has a section dedicated to the issue.

A 2013 document outlines the prosecutors’ position that marijuana can lead to addiction, crime and traffic accidents. It also asserts that marijuana is a “gateway” drug that leads users to try other illegal substances.

Another document analyzes the impact of legal marijuana in Colorado, asserting a variety of problems, including increases in impaired driving, marijuana-related emergency room visits and illegal shipments of the drug. It even noted an increase in the number of pets poisoned from ingesting marijuana.

Staker, however, boils the issue down to one thing, as he noted in a letter to IPAC Chairman Daniel Murrie, the Daviess County prosecutor.

"I said I want to challenge him to prove one thing and one thing only: that marijuana has no medical benefits whatsoever,” Staker said. “It’s been a month or a month and a half and I haven't heard back."

Dave Powell, executive director for IPAC, said the burden is on proponents of medical marijuana to prove the medical benefits.

"The consensus of the medical and research community is that smoked marijuana will never be an effective delivery system for any sort of cannabis-based treatment," Powell said in a statement to IndyStar. "Further, state-by-state legalization of marijuana for medical purposes without the rigorous research required by the (U.S. Food & Drug Administration) is not good medicine, and is likely to harm patients by being ineffective, exposing them to the dangerous side effects of marijuana, and postponing or avoiding effective medical treatment."

He said he sent each lawmaker two books that argue in favor of medical marijuana. He said he will know everything about the people he’s dealing with in any committee hearing.

“Sun-Tzu talked about the nine different terrains to fight on,” Staker said. “One is desperate ground.”

No possibility of retreat. That’s how he sees this battle. Veterans, he said, are suffering needlessly.

There is, however, room for levity. At the Grissom Air Reserve Base, where he works as a firefighter, Staker said he’s an easy target for his colleagues.

“I’m the butt of jokes,” Staker said. “You know, ‘All I need is a doobie and a big bag of Doritos.’”

Staker gets the joke, but is serious about the good he believes can come from legal medical cannabis.

"I'm not smoking it," he said. "I'm an advocate for using it for medical purposes. And I have a battle plan."

Call IndyStar reporter Mark Alesia at (317) 444-6311. Follow him on Twitter: @markalesia.