The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must urgently institute a policy change to ensure that military veterans can access cannabis for therapeutic use, a bipartisan coalition of congressional lawmakers said in a new letter.<\/p>\n
Writing to VA Secretary Denis McDonough on Wednesday, the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus urged the official to consider \u201ca change in policy to allow access to medical cannabis fro VA patients\u201d and to \u201cact swiftly and implement this change as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawmakers pointed to surveys showing high rates of opioid addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among the veteran community.<\/p>\n
\u201cResearch has shown that cannabis can be safe and effective in targeted pain-management. Additionally, cannabis has proven benefits in managing PTSD and other health issues, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and seizure disorders,\u201d the letter states. \u201cDespite its efficacy, antiquated bureaucratic red-tape continues to deny veterans these life-altering treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCongress and several administrations have enacted various well-intentioned intervention attempts, however, over twenty veterans continue to die by suicide each day\u2014it is past time we stop barring access from these innovative therapies. We therefore respectfully urge you to ensure no veteran can be denied medically prescribed cannabis treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter comes weeks after McDonough participated in a Veterans Day Q&A where he said that VA officials are \u201clooking at\u201d the possibility of an internal policy change<\/a> and have discussed it with the White House and Department of Justice. The secretary also talked about being personally moved by stories from veterans who\u2019ve found relief using medical marijuana.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to explore what more we can do,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve talked to our friends in the rest of the federal government, including the Department of Justice, on what we can do on this, and with the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n The Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chairs\u2014Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), David Joyce (R-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Don Young (R-AK)\u2014want McDonough to speed up the policy change process.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica\u2019s veterans have risked life and limb to preserve our freedoms, so we must not allow the unnecessary politicization of medical cannabis to hinder their lifesaving therapies,\u201d they wrote. \u201cWe stand ready to work with you and your administration in advancing these necessary treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n While congressional lawmakers are working to advance legislation to end marijuana prohibition, McDonough\u2019s department has resisted even modest proposals meant to promote veteran access and clinical research into the medical value of cannabis.<\/p>\n One such research bill\u00a0was approved by the House Veterans Affairs Committee<\/a>\u00a0earlier this month, despite\u00a0testimony from the department opposing the reform<\/a>. VA\u2019s David Carroll told lawmakers that the legislation was overly prescriptive and argued that the department is already conducting robust research into marijuana.<\/p>\n Some had held out hope that VA would back the reform this session after the sponsor, Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA),\u00a0said that\u00a0he\u2019d had a conversation with McDonough<\/a>\u00a0about the issue of marijuana and veterans.<\/p>\n On the Senate side,\u00a0a coalition of lawmakers recently filed an amendment<\/a>\u00a0to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would federally legalize medical cannabis for military veterans who comply with a state program where they live. VA doctors would also be explicitly allowed to issue marijuana recommendations.<\/p>\n Read the letter<\/a> to the VA secretary on marijuana access below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Click to access caucus-letter-to-va-secretary-december-2021.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n Biden Treasury Secretary Says \u2018Of Course\u2019 Marijuana Banking Would Make IRS\u2019s Job Easier<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Bipartisan Lawmakers Push VA To Allow Medical Marijuana Access For Veterans \u2018As Soon As Possible\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must urgently institute a policy change to ensure that military veterans can access cannabis for therapeutic use, a bipartisan coalition of congressional lawmakers said in a new letter. Writing to VA Secretary Denis McDonough on Wednesday, the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis CaucusContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51484"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51485,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51484\/revisions\/51485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Bipartisan Lawmakers Push VA To Allow Medical Marijuana Access For Veterans \u2018As Soon As Possible\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"