VA Medical Marijuana
Bipartisan Lawmakers Celebrate House Passage Of Veterans Medical Marijuana Access And Psychedelics Research Provisions.
Bipartisan congressional lawmakers are cheering the passage of marijuana and psychedelics amendments that were included in a spending bill that was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
While not every drug policy reform amendment that lawmakers proposed made it in the final legislation covering Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilCon/VA), two key measures did advance.
Bipartisan congressional lawmakers are cheering the passage of marijuana and psychedelics amendments that were included in a spending bill that was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
While not every drug policy reform amendment that lawmakers proposed made it in the final legislation covering Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilCon/VA), two key measures did advance.
One would allow U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations to veterans, and the other would encourage research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.
“This is a win for our bipartisan efforts to make it easier for veterans to access medical cannabis in state legal programs,” Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus who sponsored the marijuana amendment, said in a joint statement. “Our courageous veterans deserve the ability to use cannabis to treat PTSD, chronic illness and injury, or other injuries seen and unseen.”
Bipartisan congressional lawmakers are cheering the passage of marijuana and psychedelics amendments that were included in a spending bill that was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
While not every drug policy reform amendment that lawmakers proposed made it in the final legislation covering Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilCon/VA), two key measures did advance.
One would allow U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations to veterans, and the other would encourage research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.
“This is a win for our bipartisan efforts to make it easier for veterans to access medical cannabis in state legal programs,” Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus who sponsored the marijuana amendment, said in a joint statement. “Our courageous veterans deserve the ability to use cannabis to treat PTSD, chronic illness and injury, or other injuries seen and unseen.”
“Time after time, data has revealed that the mortality rate from opiate overdoses among VA patients is nearly double the national average,” the four lawmakers said. “In states where patients can legally access medical cannabis to treat painful conditions, often as a less addictive alternative, the hands of VA physicians should not be tied.”
Their amendment, which was later cosponsored by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), would specifically prohibit the use of VA funds to enforce provisions of an existing directive that bars doctors from making medical cannabis recommendations to veterans.
In a blog post published after of Wednesday’s floor vote on the amendment but before final passage of the spending bill it was attached to, Mast asked, “If medical cannabis is legal in their state, why wouldn’t veterans be able to talk to their doctor about it?”
“Thankfully, Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle realize that this is bad policy,” he said. “The bipartisan support for this measure is a good step forward, but we’re far from the finish line… I’ll continue to push to make sure my brothers and sisters in arms have every tool possible to treat the wounds of war.”
The provisions of the amendment were revised ahead of a Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday. It previously shared the same language as an amendment that was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee last month for that chamber’s version of the spending legislation. If the House proposal hadn’t been changed, that likely would have increased its chances of being adopted into law as part of the final conference report—but now there will have to be bipartisan and bicameral discussion about which, if any, version will be enacted.
Legislation to allow VA doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations to patients has advanced through both chambers in recent sessions. In 2016, the House and Senate both adopted different versions of the reform in their spending bills—but neither made it into the final conference report following negotiations.