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Bipartisan House and Senate lawmakers are refiling bills to legalize medical marijuana for military veterans\u2014the latest in a series of cannabis measures that have been introduced in the week leading up to the 4\/20 holiday.<\/p>\n
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, introduced the Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act on Tuesday with 12 cosponsors. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) is leading a companion measure filed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The bill would temporarily allow veterans to legally possess and use cannabis under federal law, as recommended by doctors in accordance with state law. Physicians with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would also be allowed for the first time to issue such recommendations.<\/p>\n
Further, the measure would authorize VA to study the therapeutic potential of marijuana for pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 41 states and territories and Washington, D.C., doctors and their patients can use medical marijuana to manage pain or treat a wide-range of diseases and disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder\u2014unless those doctors work for the VA and their patients are veterans,\u201d Schatz said in a press release. \u201cOur bill will protect veteran patients in these jurisdictions, give VA doctors the option to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans, and shed light on how medical marijuana can help address the nation\u2019s opioid epidemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee said that as the \u201cproud daughter of a veteran,\u201d she is \u201ccommitted to supporting our nation\u2019s veterans when they return from service\u2014and that includes ensuring they have access to safe, effective pain management for conditions like PTSD or chronic pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time for the federal government to catch up to the states on this issue,\u201d she said. \u201cIf a state has legal medical marijuana programs, VA doctors should have the option to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans\u2014period. The investment this bill makes in expanded research on ways medical marijuana can help alleviate the opioid crisis is also crucial. This bipartisan, bicameral effort will go a long way toward improving the lives of veterans across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, VA allows its physicians to talk about cannabis use with veterans, but they\u2019re prohibited from issuing recommendations that would allow them to obtain marijuana from state-legal markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarijuana and its compounds show promise for pain management and treating a wide-range of diseases and disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder,\u201d the bill\u2019s findings section says. \u201cMedical marijuana in states where it is legal may serve as a less harmful alternative to opioids in treating veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier versions of the legislation were<\/a> introduced in the last three Congresses<\/a>\u00a0but did not advance<\/a>.<\/p>\n This latest version has been slightly revised. Whereas prior bills would have directed VA to \u201cconduct\u201d a study on the effects of medical cannabis use on veterans, the new measure says the department would instead need to \u201csupport clinical research\u201d on the issue.<\/p>\n As previously introduced, that study section of the bill only focused research objectives on pain treatment, whereas this one includes PTSD as well. Also, the VA secretary would need to support cannabis research within 180 days of enactment, instead of two years to conduct the study as previously prescribed. A new provision mandates VA to \u201ccollaborate with other relevant federal agencies to support and facilitate\u201d marijuana research.<\/p>\n The measure does contain identical provisions included in earlier versions directing VA to conduct a separate study on the \u201crelationship between treatment programs involving medical marijuana that are approved by states, the access of veterans to such programs, and a reduction in opioid use and abuse among veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n A final change from earlier versions concerns funding for VA marijuana research. Instead of including specific appropriations amounts, the new bill simply authorizes such appropriations that would then need to be later approved by Congress separately.<\/p>\n \u2014 The measure\u2019s<\/a> original cosponsors in the House include: Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Troy Carter (D-LA) and others.<\/p>\n On the Senate side, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) are cosponsoring the legislation.<\/p>\n Joyce said that \u201cthere is a growing body of evidence about the beneficial uses of medical cannabis as treatment for PTSD and chronic pain, two terrible conditions that plague many of our veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf a state has made it legal, like Ohio has, the federal government should not be preventing a VA doctor from recommending medical cannabis if they believe that treatment is right for their patient,\u201d he said. \u201cAs the son of a World War II veteran who was wounded on the battlefield, I\u2019ve seen firsthand the many challenges our nation\u2019s heroes face when they return home. I\u2019m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this important bill and will continue to do everything in my power to ensure we are providing our veterans with the care they need to overcome the wounds of war.\u201d<\/p>\n The veterans bill is the fourth piece of congressional marijuana legislation to be filed in the past week leading up to the unofficial cannabis holiday 4\/20. Lawmakers haven\u2019t pegged the proposals to the occasion in their press releases, but it\u2019s been a common legislative theme in recent years to introduce marijuana bills around this time of year.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Joyce and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) refiled the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act to incentivize state and local cannabis expungements<\/a> with federally funded grants.<\/p>\n The day prior, Blumenauer and other Cannabis Caucus members introduced legislation to amend an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E in a way that would allow state-legal marijuana businesses to finally take federal tax deductions<\/a> that are available to companies in other industries.<\/p>\n Last week, Joyce and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) filed a measure designed to prepare the federal government for marijuana legalization<\/a>, directing the attorney general to form a commission to study and make recommendations about regulating cannabis in a way similar to alcohol.<\/p>\n On the Senate side, Schumer and colleagues\u00a0have held early meetings<\/a>\u00a0with bipartisan members<\/a>\u00a0this session after failing to advance the so-called SAFE Plus package of marijuana expungement and banking reform legislation last year.<\/p>\n Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said last week that he believes marijuana \u201ccompromise legislation\u201d\u00a0could be enacted along bipartisan lines<\/a>\u00a0this session.<\/p>\n Read the text<\/a> of the veterans medical cannabis bill below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Delaware Governor Sends Mixed Signals Marijuana Legalization Bills, Saying It\u2019s \u2018Time To Move On\u2019 From Debating Issue<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Bipartisan Lawmakers File Congressional Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuana For Military Veterans<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Bipartisan House and Senate lawmakers are refiling bills to legalize medical marijuana for military veterans\u2014the latest in a series of cannabis measures that have been introduced in the week leading up to the 4\/20 holiday. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, introduced the Veterans Medical MarijuanaContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":64028,"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\/64027"}],"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=64027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64029,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64027\/revisions\/64029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Bipartisan Lawmakers File Congressional Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuana For Military Veterans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"