
S5 E46: Traveling Toward Healing with, Gary Hess
From The Conversation, Cannabis & Christianity podcast by Miguel Torrez
April 18, 2026 · 1h 12m
About this episode
Gary Hess discusses his journey with PTSD and the role of medical cannabis in recovery for veterans and trauma survivors.
Gary Hess is the founder and Executive Director of the Veterans Alliance for Holistic Alternatives (VAHA), CEO of Teleleaf, and Founder of, Warrior Tribe Assembly – organizations he founded to help destigmatize and provide access to medical cannabis. Gary served in the Marine Corps for 11 years, both enlisted and as an Infantry Officer. After serving during the heaviest levels of fighting in Irag, Gary experienced the challenges of living with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, and pharmaceutical dependency first-hand. He used cannabis not only to manage his conditions safely on his path to recovery, but also to catalyze and expedite Post-Traumatic Growth. He is now an advocate and activist for the use of medical cannabis in post-traumatic recovery – both for veterans and trauma survivors.
People in this episode
Host: Miguel Torrez
Guest: Gary Hess
Topics covered
- medical cannabis
- veterans
- PTSD
- trauma recovery
- holistic health
Keywords
- cannabis
- PTSD
- veterans
- holistic alternatives
- trauma recovery
- mental health
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Veterans Alliance for Holistic Alternatives, Teleleaf, Warrior Tribe Assembly
Places: Iraq
More episodes of The Conversation, Cannabis & Christianity podcast
- S6 E43: A Marijuana Farm on Sovereign Land with, Tim Barnhart · June 10, 2026 · 47 min
- S6 E42: Juxtapose Light and Dark · June 7, 2026 · 29 min
- S6 E41: Crossing Continents with, Veronica Castillo · June 3, 2026 · 1h 10m
- S6 E40: Addressing Generational Trauma with, Micah Stover · May 27, 2026 · 1h 22m
- S6 E39: Clearing the Fog of Life with, Clara Parati · May 20, 2026 · 1h 25m
- S6 E38: False Images of God · May 18, 2026 · 26 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Conversation, Cannabis & Christianity podcast podcast page.