"What is the Veterans Action Council?"

 

The Veterans Action Council (VAC) is an all-volunteer group of international veterans and venerated professionals in our respective fields. We were founded during quarantine in July 2020, and our first meeting was held in August 2020. 

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We are a volunteer-driven, grassroots network of military veterans advocating for better healthcare, policy reform, and access to safe, affordable treatments, including cannabis and alternative natural therapies. Focused on addressing issues like veteran access to natural medicines, suicide, chronic pain, and PTSD, the VAC collaborates with policymakers, researchers, and healthcare providers to promote evidence-based solutions and challenge outdated policies nationally and internationally. 

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Unlike traditional organizations, VAC operates without a hierarchy, dues, or headquarters that emphasizes an equal, international "buddy check-in" approach. This system fosters mutual support, mental health awareness, and collaboration among members. VAC prioritizes realistic, incremental progress in cannabis policy and access to natural medicines at the federal, state, and global levels, ensuring veterans have a voice in these discussions.

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Meetings include check-ins to support members' mental health, share legislative updates, and provide a space for discussing personal projects and advocacy efforts. VAC's mission is to empower veterans, set higher standards for care, and improve quality of life through collective action and solidarity. 

Every other Friday evening, we host talks online; these are our VAC Roundtables. These are collaborative forums where veterans, advocates, professionals, and stakeholders come together to address issues affecting the veteran community and enlighten others on our cannabis movement history. These discussions provide a platform for sharing experiences, insights, and updates related to veterans' health, policy reform, and access to treatments like cannabis and alternative therapies.

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What are you doing? 

The VAC promotes and coordinates efforts on issues facing veterans' access to alternative treatments and therapies, promoting veterans' physical and mental health and their families. Our first order of business was to get down on paper what we were all experiencing in our corners of the country, each of us residing in states with various cannabis legalization/access. That letter led us to create and publish the VAC "Green Paper."

 

The Green Paper is a historical document of great significance created in 2020, and a large section of it was initially submitted to the Clinton Administration in 1993 by Patient Zero, Robert Randall, and his wife, Alice O'Leary Randall, as a policy recommendation for how the federal government should pursue the medical cannabis issue. Robert's widow, Alice O'Leary Randall, entrusted us with this document to include their work in our Green Paper to educate others. The current iteration consists of the veteran component of the cannabis movement. It works at the United Nations that culminated in that body recognizing the medical utility of cannabis on December 2nd, 2020. 

 

Our Green Paper has since been submitted to the United Nations, where we held our first intervention as a group in April 2021, and an additional letter for their consideration. We submitted our green paper to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy when they petitioned the public for comment on their drug policies and how specific demographics have been significantly negatively impacted by them. The trifecta for our Green Paper came when the "Sponsoring Offices" of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act petitioned the public for comment on their draft proposal for legislation ending the federal prohibition of cannabis. 

 

We hosted side events at the United Nations in March 2022, 2023, 2024, and again in 2025 in Vienna, Austria. We partnered with the National Cannabis Industries Association (NCIA) for in-person Lobby Days in Washington, D.C., in Sept. 2022 and May 2023. Our VAC volunteers met with the Cannabis Caucus, Veterans Affairs, Armed Services, and Judicial Committee Members on Capitol Hill. We continue to meet with Congressional stakeholders and International partners to contribute to veterans' policies. 

 

Who is working with us?

 

Multiple veteran organizations have contributed to the work we have been able to put forward over the years. These span the globe. In addition to our fellow veterans, we are fortunate to call LEAP, Patients Out of Time, the Cannabis Nurses Association, the Scottsdale Research Institute, MAPS, BattleBrothersFoundation, Virginians for Medical Cannabis, NYNGO, and many other organizations allies. 

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VAC Code of Conduct

 

Agreed upon unanimously, 2/25/2021

 

Integrity, Respect, Accountability, Transparency

 

-VAC promotes and coordinates efforts on issues facing Veterans' access to alternative treatments and therapies promoting the physical and mental health of veterans and their families. 

 

-To achieve its purposes, VAC must support an internal environment that nurtures its members and encourages trust, open communication, and consensus-building.

 

-Our member code of ethics and conduct outlines our expectations regarding the behavior of our volunteers towards other members, participants, stakeholders, and society.

 

-Our organization stands for the core values of synergy, honesty, and integrity. Open communication and expression should be guided by the desire for a respectful, safe, and collaborative working environment.

 

-The VAC is committed to:

 

-Treating every individual with dignity and respect;

 

-Being responsible for our decisions and outcomes;

 

-Acting conscientiously toward the communities in which we operate and for the benefit of

the communities that we serve;

 

-Aptly handling genuine or perceived conflicts of interest prudently; and

 

-Treating our volunteers with respect, fairness, and good faith

 

Accountability

 

Exercise reasonable care, good faith, and due diligence in organizational affairs. 

 

Fully disclose, at the earliest opportunity, information that may result in a perceived or actual conflict of interest.

 

Fully disclose, at the earliest opportunity, information that would have significance in Council decision-making. 

 

Professional Excellence 

 

Maintain professional courtesy, respect, and objectivity in all VAC activities.

 

Strive to uphold those practices and assist other VAC Members in upholding the highest standards of conduct. 

 

Personal Gain 

 

Exercise the powers invested for the good of all VAC Members of the organization rather than for personal benefit or that of a nonprofit.

 

Equal Opportunity 

 

Ensure the right of all Council Members to appropriate and effective services without discrimination based on geography, political, religious, or socio-economic characteristics of the state or region represented. 

 

Ensure the right of all VAC members to appropriate and effective services without discrimination based on the organization's volunteer makeup concerning gender, sexual orientation, national origin, race, religion, age, political affiliation, or disabilitybyth all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

 

Confidential Information 

 

Respect the confidentiality of sensitive information known due to VAC volunteer service. 

 

Collaboration and Cooperation 

 

Respect the diversity of opinions as expressed or acted upon by the Veterans Action Council, committees, and membership, and formally register dissent as appropriate during our General Membership meeting. 

 

Promote collaboration, cooperation, and partnership among VAC members.