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A bill to require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of marijuana for military veterans would have a negligible fiscal impact, according to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).<\/p>\n
However, just as when the agency issued its last analysis<\/a> on the costs of an earlier version of the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act in 2020, CBO pointed to ongoing VA cannabis studies and said it \u201cexpects that those efforts would satisfy the bill\u2019s requirement for research,\u201d even though it\u2019s not clear that\u2019s actually the case.<\/p>\n H.R. 2916, VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2021 https:\/\/t.co\/bbLOdXH8X2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CBO Cost Estimates (@USCBOcostest) December 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), cleared the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee<\/a> for the third time last month. Earlier versions of the measure\u00a0were approved by the panel in 2020 and 2018<\/a>\u00a0but were not enacted into law.<\/p>\n It would mandate that the department launch a series of studies on using medical marijuana to treat PTSD and chronic pain.<\/p>\n While VA has expressed opposition to the reform proposal\u2014as well as other modest cannabis- and veterans-related legislation\u2014because it says the measure is overly prescriptive, CBO suggested<\/a> in its analysis published on Tuesday that the department has already taken the basic steps to implement it.<\/p>\n Specifically, it pointed to \u201cseveral studies examining risks and benefits of using cannabis to treat PTSD and chronic pain\u201d that VA has approved.<\/p>\n One that was previously referenced in CBO\u2019s score of the earlier bill evaluates the \u201ceffects of medical cannabis use among 136 participants with PTSD and other health conditions.\u201d However, text of the legislation itself indicates that the ongoing study would not<\/em>\u00a0satisfy its research requirements, for several reasons.<\/p>\n First, the cited\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0only covers post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The\u00a0bill mandates that VA shall conduct clinical trials not just into PTSD, but also specifically on chronic pain as well as \u201cother conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n Second, the bill calls for studies involving multiple cannabis forms and varieties. The study CBO pointed to looks exclusively at synthetic CBD.<\/p>\n Congressional researchers did note that there\u2019s \u201canother interventional cannabis study focused on chronic diabetic neuropathic pain\u201d that VA has more recently approved. Participants will begin to be enrolled in that study starting in January 2022, the report said.<\/p>\n \u201cCBO expects that those efforts would satisfy the bill\u2019s requirement for research,\u201d it said, though it\u2019s not clear which pain trial the office is referring to, or whether it would in fact include the required multiple varieties of marijuana under the legislation.<\/p>\n CBO said it would cost less than $500,000 between 2022 and 2026 for VA to comply with additional reporting requirements included in the bill. \u201cSuch spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds,\u201d the analysis says.<\/p>\n \u2014 The text of the bill says the VA secretary \u201cshall carry out a series of clinical trials on the effects of medical-grade cannabis on the health outcomes of covered veterans diagnosed with chronic pain and covered veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n It lists both \u201crequired elements\u201d of the trials and \u201coptional elements.\u201d When it comes to the chronic pain trials, the agency would have to look at the impact of marijuana consumption on osteopathic pain, opioid use and dosage, benzodiazepine use and dosage, alcohol use, inflammation, sleep quality, agitation and quality of life.<\/p>\n For the PTSD-specific studies, VA would examine the extent to which cannabis affects basic symptoms of the condition, the use and dosage of benzodiazepines, alcohol use, mood, anxiety, social functioning, agitation, suicidal ideation and sleep quality.<\/p>\n Optionally, the clinical trials \u201cmay include an evaluation of the effects of the use of cannabis to treat chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder on\u201d pulmonary function, cardiovascular events, various forms of cancer, intestinal inflammation, motor vehicle accidents, mania, psychosis, cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, neuropathy or spasticity.<\/p>\n The bill further details specific methodological standards of the clinical trials that would be required. It would, for example, mandate that researchers use \u201cnot fewer than seven unique plant cultivars\u201d with specific ratios of THC and CBD, and says the trials will involve \u201cwhole plant raw material and extracts.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to his standalone bill, Correa separately proposed requiring VA cannabis studies as an amendment to a\u00a0defense bill that passed the House<\/a>\u00a0in September. But he\u00a0withdrew it prior to a House Rules Committee hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Senate committee in June held a hearing on a bill to similarly require the department to conduct clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of marijuana for military veterans with PTSD and chronic pain\u2014but a VA representative said that\u00a0the Biden administration is opposed to the reform<\/a>. The Senate panel has not yet voted on its version of the legislation.<\/p>\n During the last Congress, in 2019, the VA under President Donald Trump also came out against a series of bills<\/a>\u00a0that were designed to protect benefits for veterans who use marijuana, allow the department\u2019s doctors to recommend medical cannabis and expand research into the plant\u2019s therapeutic potential.<\/p>\n In 2018, the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee was the\u00a0first congressional panel to approve a marijuana reform bill<\/a>\u00a0by passing an earlier version of legislation to encourage VA to conduct research on the medical benefits of cannabis.<\/p>\n Despite VA\u2019s stated opposition to a variety of marijuana reform proposals in the past, an official with the department did say recently that it is \u201cvery closely\u201d following research into\u00a0the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics like MDMA<\/a>\u00a0for military veterans.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, a bipartisan coalition of congressional lawmakers reintroduced bills that would\u00a0federally legalize medical cannabis for military veterans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) in January introduced a proposal aimed at ensuring that\u00a0military veterans aren\u2019t penalized for using medical cannabis<\/a>\u00a0in compliance with state law. It would also codify that VA doctors are allowed to discuss the risks and benefits of marijuana with their patients.<\/p>\n VA doctors are currently permitted to discuss cannabis with patients and document their usage in medical records, and those veteran patients are already shielded by agency policy from losing their benefits for marijuana use\u2014but the bill would enshrine those policies\u00a0into federal statute so they could not be administratively changed in the future.<\/p>\n A U.S. military veteran who was deported to Jamaica over a marijuana conviction was\u00a0recently allowed to return to the country<\/a>\u00a0following a concerted push for relief by members of Congress.<\/p>\n Sens. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA)\u00a0sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)<\/a>\u00a0in July requesting that he reopen the case.<\/p>\n Thirty members of the Congressional Black Caucus separately\u00a0urged the Biden administration to reopen certain deportation cases<\/a>, including those involving cannabis.<\/p>\n Iowa Democrats Announce Plan To Let Voters Decide On Marijuana Legalization Amid GOP Resistance<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Congressional Analysis Finds Veterans Marijuana Research Bill Would Come At Little Cost<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A bill to require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of marijuana for military veterans would have a negligible fiscal impact, according to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). However, just as when the agency issued its lastContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":51911,"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\/51910"}],"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=51910"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51912,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51910\/revisions\/51912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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