Sean Azzariti, a veteran of the Iraq war, prepares to make the first legal recreational marijuana purchase in Colorado from advocate Betty Aldworth at the 3-D Denver Discrete Dispensary on Jan. 1, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. Theo Stroomer / Getty Images

Duane Patrick Seifert, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, owns and operates a medical marijuana dispensary in Olympia, Washington, called Rainier Xpress (Rx), where he caters to a large number of veterans. A “Wall of Honor” displays photographs of his customers in their military uniforms, and he offers fellow vets a free one-gram pre-roll (or joint) every day they visit. For veterans on fixed or limited incomes, that means a lot.

Seifert estimates that he gives away about 1.5 ounces of medicine a day, which costs him about $5,000 per month. He also helps homeless veterans get legal access to medical marijuana by taking them to see the doctor and get their medical marijuana card so that Seifert can serve them the medicine they need.

Like many of his customers, Seifert suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and uses marijuana to tone down symptoms like high anxiety levels, insomnia and nightmares.

“As the word gets out about how Rx helps patients and veterans, the more they come daily,” Seifert says. “They leave with smiles on their faces.”

Although medical and recreational marijuana are legal in Washington, PTSD is not a qualifying condition under state law for a prescription, forcing veterans who suffer from post-combat stress either to lie to their doctors about why they need medical marijuana or to pay higher costs for recreational pot. In Colorado, for example, a vet suffering from PTSD would have to buy recreational marijuana, which is taxed at 25 percent, as opposed to medical marijuana, taxed at 2.9 percent, because PTSD is not a qualifying condition in that state either.

However, in Oregon, while recreational pot is not yet legal, PTSD can qualify a patient for medical marijuana, as it can in eight other states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico and Nevada.