GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - As rules stand, if a veteran is caught using marijuana, they can be denied their pain medication, but that's all going to change later this week.

“If it's legitimate, I have no qualms about it,” says Ed Ryan, Vietnam veteran.

“I think it's to each veteran to make up their own mind. To speak for the entire veterans I couldn't do that,” says Rudy Nerio.

Both of these Vietnam Veterans don't use marijuana, but they back their brothers who want to use it for medical reasons.

“One of those diseases they will get relief from, I think it's justified,” says Ryan.

“As long as a doctor gives you a prescription and it is being used according to the doctor’s direction, then I have no problem with it,” says Nerio.

Dusty Higgins, owner of the medical marijuana dispensary Nature's Medicine, is also a veteran.

“Five years U.S. Navy, did three years with a mobile security unit that we did over in Iraq,” says Higgins.

He says it's about time veterans be allowed to reap the benefits of medical marijuana.

“There are all sorts of things they can use it for. Anxiety, stress, post traumatic stress disorder,” says Higgins.

The Department of Veteran Affairs is expected to change their policy on medical marijuana in the next few days.

“I've talked to a couple VA doctors and they've said they would really like to refer their patients over to something more holistic and natural,” says Higgins.

The policy currently denies veterans their pain medications if they are found using marijuana. But soon patients treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics in the 14 states where it's legal, will be able to use medical marijuana. This includes Colorado.

“A veteran who wants a medical marijuana license has to go through the state process,” says Paul Sweeney, spokesperson for Grand Junction Veteran Affairs Hospital.

But there is a grey area. If you're a veteran working at the VA hospital, a federal facility, there's a chance you could lose your job if you can't pass a drug test.

“They definitely need to ask our Human Resources what the policy is for those employees who have a medical marijuana prescription,” says Sweeney.

For Higgins, he’s hoping this new policy takes away the stigma of marijuana and makes the public realize what many believe, that marijuana is a legitimate natural remedy.

“Hopefully we start getting more veterans coming around seeking the benefits of it,” says Higgins.

Veterans should know that marijuana is still prohibited from the property of the VA Hospital and if the drug is brought to the facility, a ticket will follow with a mandatory appearance in front of a federal magistrate.