ReelBob: ‘Unprescribed’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
“Unprescribed” plays more like a 71-minute public service announcement about the benefits of medical marijuana than a documentary. But that does not deter from its salient point about the over-prescription of and dependence on the use of medication by a Veterans Administration overwhelmed by the number of returning military personnel with physical and mental wounds.
The majority of the movie uses interviews with Iraqi War veterans who suffered physical wounds, TBI (traumatic brain injury) or suffered from PTSD.
These men all had similar stories. The drugs prescribed by the VA had, in the words of veteran Fabian Henry, transformed “us into fat, lazy zombies” who could not cope in public and were fearful among crowds.
They all related how, once stopping to use all their prescriptions and switching to medical marijuana, they began to feel more alive and like themselves. Many said it was like a fog lifted from their brains.
Veteran Josh Frey, who was wounded twice and participated in the battle for Fallujah, had 22 surgeries in 18 months to repair his shoulder and other wounds. Frey’s experience also led to PTSD.
He related how he took the pills given by VA and continued to do so even though they failed to help him. He still has dozens of refills dating back to 2006. The pills, he said, made him feel “like a real piece of sh.t.”
When Frey began using medical marijuana he also started, one by one, eliminating his drugs. He is now pill free, using medical grass 100 percent of the time.
Frey’s wife, Sarah, said that when he began using the marijuana, she noticed a vast improvement in his personality. He was able to function in public and in crowds, she said.
A major factor that hinders the use of medical marijuana, said Janel Ralph, a patients’ rights advocate in South Carolina, is that while many doctors support it use, they cannot prescribe it, but only recommend that patients use it.
So far, only nine states have passed laws allowing the use of marijuana. What is holding back many states, those interviewed in the movie say, are the outdated notions about marijuana — that it is addictive and can lead to the use of harder drugs or that it causes cancer.
While a few studies have refuted these concepts, it remains an uphill battle to legalize marijuana — even for medicinal purposes — nationwide.
“Unprescribed” points out that one of the side effects of many of the medications given vets, especially for pain and PTSD, is suicide. The film notes that on average 22 vets take their lives every day.
And as one researcher points out, the common factor seems to be the VA’s prescribed drugs.
It should be noted that despite their indictment of the VA none of those interviewed say the agency is maliciously prescribing these drugs. It is simply a matter of expediency.
One veteran ironically noted that because of medical advances more military personnel are surviving wounds that would have been fatal in earlier wars, overburdens VA facilities, which was unprepared for such a surge in wounded personnel.
“Unprescribed” is a call to arms to get the government and its agencies, especially to VA, to help those who sacrificed for the United States by giving them to the best care possible — including by legalizing medical marijuana so the sometimes deadly cycle of prescribing — or overprescribing — medications that do not seem to work can be lessened in favor of a method a majority of veterans and their family believes is a worthwhile remedy.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
UNPRESCRIBED
3 stars out of 4
Not rated, language, disturbing war images