Letter to the Editor:

I’m a loud and proud Democratic socialist and atheist. Bernie Sanders is my candidate, yet I will be casting my vote for Casey Brock, a Republican, Christian candidate for Senate District 18 during the primary on June 7.

Why? A recent decision of the Montana Supreme Court has left many Veterans without access to legitimate medicine that treats injuries sustained fighting for our freedom. Many more Veterans do not have access to a drug that is proven to alleviate the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

I have multiple military friends who struggle with PTSD. Former Marine Logan Edwards came back from Iraq, and his father picked him up from the airport. The first time he stopped the car at a red light, Logan screamed for him to move, ANYWHERE, explaining that they were sitting ducks for an RPG.

Logan dulled the symptoms with alcohol until multiple DUIs had him searching for relief elsewhere. It wasn’t until he discovered marijuana that he could sit in a car at a red light without worrying about being blown apart. “Cannabis saved my life,” he told me when we met in our nation’s capitol years ago.

I hear that a lot traveling around the state gathering signatures to ensure the same access to medicine Logan has in Colorado. I was there for the first “recreational” sale of marijuana in Colorado. It was to Sean Azzariti, a former Marine who spearheaded a “legalization” campaign because doctors in Colorado could not prescribe cannabis to treat PTSD, even though it works.

Now we live in a state where doctors can only prescribe the world’s most prescribable drug 25 times before they must pay for a state investigation to see if they deserve to retain their license — which might make sense if we were talking about a drug that’s actually addictive, like opioids.

We also live in a state featuring legislators that have no interest in representing those who’ve elected them. We need new roads, and the politicians hear us, but they accomplish nothing.

But Casey Brock is NOT getting my vote because he’s pro pot. He’s getting my vote because he is NOT a politician. Like my candidate Bernie Sanders, Casey Brock is an outsider. He’s a Libertarian-leaning Independent at heart, with friends in the Legislature on both sides of the aisle, and that’s how things are accomplished — through compromise.

I don’t agree with Casey Brock on much, but I can argue with Casey Brock about everything and NEVER hear a lie, and I ALWAYS know he will do right by the voters and Veterans of Montana. And if Eastern Montana Democrats want to hedge their bets, they’ll vote for Casey Brock on June 7, too.

Anthony Varriano

Director, Cycling for Sensible Drug Policy