VA - House Approves GOP Spending Package To Include Medical Marijuana Access For Veterans | Benzinga
U.S. Congresspersons Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) successfully passed their bipartisan amendment in the Republicans' Veterans Affairs spending package.
This amendment would end the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) prohibition on assisting veterans in accessing medical marijuana.
VA policy currently prevents providers from recommending, making referrals or completing forms for medical marijuana, regardless of whether the state the veteran resides in has legalized it for medical use.
"One of the most painful vestiges of the failed war on drugs is the continued denial of the therapeutic properties of cannabis," said Blumenauer in a press release shared with Benzinga.
Blumenaur is the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. "Nowhere is this more apparent than at the VA, which use to hand out opioids like Tic-Tacs but bars providers from ...