Bipartisan Effort Seeks Legal Cannabis For Veterans Through VA: Doctors Should Decide What's Best For Each Patient

Bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter Friday to House appropriators urging them to maintain protections (contained in a spending bill) enabling physicians with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recommend medical marijuana to veterans in states with legal cannabis programs, reported Marijuana Moment.

The letter, signed by Earl Blumenauer (D), Brian Mast (R), Dina Titus (D) and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R), was addressed to honorable Kay Granger (R) and honorable Rosa DeLaurochair (D), chair and ranking member of House Committee on Appropriations, respectively.

“We write to urge you to maintain the protections included in both the House and Senate Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bills to prevent the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from prohibiting or penalizing physicians for recommending medical marijuana to any patient requesting its use in a state where such activities are legal,” the congressional lawmakers wrote.

Under the current federal law, VA doctors are not allowed to recommend veterans to participate in state-legal medical marijuana programs. The four lawmakers proposed the committee keep the following language in the FY 2024 military spending bill:

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used in a manner that would: 

• interfere with the ability of a veteran to participate in a medicinal marijuana program approved by a State;

• deny any services from the Department to a veteran who is participating in such a program; or

• limit or interfere with the ability of a health care provider of the Department to make appropriate recommendations, fill out forms, or take steps to comply with such a program.

The lawmakers concluded the letter by saying that veterans shouldn’t be obliged to seek treatment that is legal in their state outside of the VA, and also that VA doctors should not be denied the chance to recommend the treatment they believe would be the best for their patients.

Related links: 

'It Could Hit You A Couple Years Later' Says Vet On PTSD As USF Prepares Cannabis Clinical Trial

Veterans Could Soon Receive Medical Marijuana Recommendations From VA Doctors: Senate Approves New Bill - What's Next?

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by RDNE Stock project via Pexels and nneem from Pixabay