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A Republican congressman has again filed a bill that\u2019s meant to protect military veterans from losing government benefits for using medical marijuana in compliance with state law.<\/p>\n
This is the second piece of cannabis legislation to be introduced in the 118th Congress. The measure from Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) would also codify that U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors are allowed to discuss the potential risks and benefits of marijuana with their patients.<\/p>\n
Steube has consistently championed this specific reform, filing versions of the \u201cVeterans Cannabis Use for Safe Healing Act\u201d over the past several Congresses. This latest version is identical to the bill he introduced last Congress<\/a>.<\/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<\/a> would enshrine these policies<\/a>\u00a0into federal statute so they could not be administratively changed in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a veteran, I\u2019m committed to ensuring that veterans receive the care they deserve, and I know that sometimes that care can include medical marijuana,\u201d Steube said in a statement to Marijuana Moment. \u201cReceiving the appropriate treatment to address your health care needs\u2014using products that are legal in the state in which you live\u2014should not preclude you from your Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 The version that the congressman introduced two sessions ago was more expansive, containing a notable provision that further allowed VA physicians to formally fill out written recommendations for medical marijuana.<\/p>\n But that language was omitted from these last two iterations, which could maintain barriers to access given that most state medical cannabis programs require a written recommendation, meaning many veterans would have to outsource their healthcare to a non-VA provider in order to qualify for legal access to marijuana.<\/p>\n Steube\u2019s office previously told Marijuana Moment that the omission was necessary in order to\u00a0advance an earlier version through a House committee<\/a> in 2020 as an amendment to another bill.<\/p>\n While the absence of language around discussing and recommending medical marijuana isn\u2019t ideal from advocates\u2019 perspective, the bill would still be a modest step for veterans, making it so VA could not move to deny them benefits for using cannabis in accordance with state law.<\/p>\n This is the second piece of marijuana reform legislation that\u2019s been introduced so far in the new Congress. The first came from Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) and two other GOP cosponsors, whose legislation is designed to allow medical cannabis patients to purchase and possess firearms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, VA is working on updating a directive that expired last month<\/a> concerning military veteran participation in state-legal medical marijuana programs\u2014and congressional lawmakers have told the department to \u201cnot interfere\u201d in such activity.<\/p>\n The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) directive stipulates the agency\u2019s doctors can discuss marijuana use with veteran patients and that benefits can\u2019t be denied based solely on a patient\u2019s participation in a medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n Federal courts have already determined that doctors who simply recommend medical cannabis to their patients are protected under the First Amendment, but VA\u2019s concerns have caused uncertainty among lawmakers as to whether that protection extends to federally employed physicians.<\/p>\n Last month, a coalition of more than 20 veterans service organizations (VSOs) sent a letter to congressional leaders to urge the passage of the bipartisan VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act before the end of the last Congress<\/a>. But that didn\u2019t materialize.<\/p>\n The legislation\u00a0cleared a House committee in 2021<\/a>, despite the protests of VA officials who\u2019ve argued that it\u2019s unduly prescriptive. Earlier versions of the measure\u00a0moved through committee in 2020 and 2018<\/a>\u00a0as well, but they\u2019ve yet to become enacted into law.<\/p>\n Separately, a large-scale defense spending bill that was enacted following bicameral negotiations<\/a> last month excludes separate language from a previously House-passed version that would have authorized VA doctors to recommend medical cannabis to veterans living in states where it is legal.<\/p>\n A joint explanatory statement for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) did direct the Department of Defense to examine the potential of \u201cplant-based therapies\u201d like cannabis and certain psychedelics for service members, however.<\/p>\n Read the text<\/a> of the \u201cVeterans Cannabis Use for Safe Healing Act\u201d below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Would Be \u2018Foolish\u2019 Not To Sign Marijuana Legalization Bill, Senate Sponsor Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post GOP Congressman Files Bill To Protect Veterans Who Use Medical Marijuana From Losing Benefits<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A Republican congressman has again filed a bill that\u2019s meant to protect military veterans from losing government benefits for using medical marijuana in compliance with state law. This is the second piece of cannabis legislation to be introduced in the 118th Congress. The measure from Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) wouldContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":60877,"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\/60876"}],"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=60876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60878,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60876\/revisions\/60878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: GOP Congressman Files Bill To Protect Veterans Who Use Medical Marijuana From Losing Benefits<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"