John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight,” of late, has featured a barrage of reports on the Donald Trump administration. Oliver picked apart the Republican healthcare bill, twice; slammed the administration’s proposed congressional budget; and went to town on Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

For the first time in 2017, Oliver went with a Trump-free main segment. On Sunday, he broached a controversial topic in American politics: marijuana legalization. 

Oliver’s segment delivered a powerful message about the challenges many Americans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), epilepsy, and even cancer face in obtaining medical marijuana. 

Nearly one in ten Americans have suffered from PTSD at some point in their lives, with women being affected nearly twice as often as men. For veterans of US wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Kuwait these numbers are higher, ranging from 10-20% of all veterans. And marijuana, Oliver noted in his segment, can help these individuals cope — that is, if and when they can get their hands on it.  

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Oliver’s segment showed how federal laws that ban marijuana, even as certain states remove limitations on the drug, can negatively impact veterans, people with disabilities, and minority populations. 

“If you have marijuana right now, even if you are acting completely legally according to your state, you may still be in serious jeopardy,” Oliver reported. “You could lose your home, job, and possessions.”  

For example, in states like Kentucky — one of 44 nationwide that allow some form of medical marijuana — accessing legal marijuana can be near to impossible. This affects not only veterans who suffer from PTSD, but also cancer patients, people with Alzheimer's, and individuals with multiple sclerosis, to name a few

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“If you live in Kentucky, despite there being a law that ostensibly gives access to medical marijuana, there’s virtually no legal way for you to get it,” Oliver said. 

In Kentucky, Oliver found, medical marijuana users are required to get a written subscription, but because of federal law, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is not allowed to write prescriptions for marijuana — as it is technically a “schedule 1” drug, on par with heroin. 

They are also not allowed to import medical marijuana from other states, neither by car nor by plane, nor — as Oliver notes — by carrier pigeon. 

The jury is still out on whether medical marijuana can help veterans suffering from PTSD. The VA claims “there is no evidence at this time that marijuana is an effective treatment for PTSD.” 

But at least several studies have found the opposite to be true. 

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Some countries have gone even further than weed in looking to treat health problems with drugs. In Germany, Switzerland, and Spain, The Atlantic reports, government-funded programs are treating PTSD-sufferers with MDMA, otherwise known as “ecstasy.”  

While the US is unlikely to go as far as those countries, it is high time, Oliver argued, for the US to at least consider the potential health implications of marijuana. 

“I’m not saying there shouldn't be laws that place sensible restrictions on marijuana, as there are with other substances, but our federal laws desperately need to be brought up to date,” Oliver said. 

He also noted staggering statistics about marijuana-related arrests and race in the US.  

“The war on drugs was futile, expensive, and imposed overly-harsh penalties, especially on African Americans,” Oliver said, noting that African-Americans are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites. 

A June 2013 report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found that between 2001 and 2010, a marijuana arrest occurred every 37 seconds. For black populations, the number of arrests per 100,000 people was 716. For white populations? This number drops to 192 per 100,000, despite similar rates of marijuana use.  

These arrests lead to a “carceral state,” in which minority populations are roped into a cycle of poverty and imprisonment. 

For reasons that run the gamut from health to wealth, Oliver has again nailed the social ramifications of this important issue. 

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