Stephanie Price
Business of Cannabis
Doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be able to recommend medical cannabis to their patients in states where it’s legal.
The bill provides support for critical housing, infrastructure, and facilities for U.S. military forces and their families, as well as increased funding for veterans health care and benefits.
The measure was advanced by a bipartisan vote of 28-0.
Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Susan Collins, stated: “The significant investments this legislation makes in America’s military are critical to our national security, helping to ensure our military’s readiness and safety while reducing maintenance costs.
“The bill also supports much-needed funding to improve medical care and housing for our nation’s veterans. As the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to champion this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”
Previously, VA doctors were not authorised to issue recommendations on medical cannabis, even in states that have legalised the plant for medical or recreational use.
Supporters of the Bill have said that it provides a modest but meaningful reform for the veteran community.
Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley reintroduced the legislation in April.
Speaking on the passage of the bill, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated: “…despite the tough funding constraints, these bills move our country forward—not back—with important investments to keep our promise to our nation’s veterans, to get Americans where they need to go safely, to increase our housing supply, address the homelessness crisis, support our farmers and ranchers, keep American families healthy and safe, and much more.”
Speaking at the time of the legislation’s reintroduction, Wyden stated: “Veterans in Oregon and nationwide are unfairly and unacceptably stuck in a legal gray zone when discussing medical cannabis with their doctor.
“Veterans deserve the opportunity to explore various treatments with their doctor without fear of prosecution or employment ramifications.
“The Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act would protect veterans who use medical cannabis while also directing the VA to research how medical cannabis could help veterans manage their health and well-being. I’ll fight tooth and nail to get this bill over the finish line and help get veterans the care they deserve and earned with their service.”
Merkley also stated: “Outdated laws should not arbitrarily preclude VA doctors from prescribing the treatment that’s best for veterans. Our veterans have given too much to be met with roadblocks to the care they need.”
The Most Revolutionary Act 
Well, la de dah. If the US government devoted as much attention to preventing wars as it does to supporting those beat up by said wars, our tax dollars would be much better spent. It’s no big deal to some of us that Congress is making this concession to allow vets to get Nebraska ditch weed along with the boatloads of other meds dumped on our vets.
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I suppose if they are doped up enough, the less they will complain!
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I think that has been the VA’s primary impetus for a long time. When I worked in VAs, it was easier for the vets to get drugs than housing.
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There’s growing research outside the US (where it’s illegal) into the medicinal use of cannabis (especially for chronic illnesses, such as glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimers, cancer, seizure disorders, etc). It’s far safer (and more effective) than a lot of the snake oil promoted by Big Pharma. Here in New Zealand, the heaviest support for medical marijuana is from aging baby boomers like myself who suffer from chronic conditions. Most VA clients, being Vietnam veterans, also belong in that category.
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Dr. B,
As a septagenarian, I’ve lived through a lot of the changing medical environment regarding drugs. First on the outside, then from a medical perspective, I’ve seen how the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government have colluded with insurance companies to force the US and the world into an overly structured construct that has little to do with promoting individual health.
The World Health Organization is the most egregious example of dictates created by insiders, mostly people not personally affected by the decisions and mandates, except to profit by their stock investments and their pension plans.
Cannabis is only one example of a natural product which has been used for 5000 years for its practical, as well as its medical advantages. That it is illegal in many states in the US now is the result of a series of federal government caveats on its use, most specifically the “Harrison Narcotics Act” in 1914, which restricted use of opiates and cocaine; legislation around 1937, addressing marijuana; and the “War on Drugs” and creation of the DEA in about 1970, with its schedule of classification of different substances with respect to their medical utility.
Famous names from our generation come to mind. Timothy Leary, who advocated for LSD. Before that, Aldous Huxley, a Brit, most famous for his epic novel “Brave New World” and teacher at Eton of George Orwell, author of “1984”. Huxley eventually developed incurable throat cancer and requested his wife to give him LSD on his death bed, so he died tripping.
Laws create bureaucracy and outlaws. The CIA is an example of an agency that exists outside the formal federal system. The CIA’s drug running operation is a separate series of books.
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You are speaking about my cohort, too. The “peace and love” generation has not died out yet.
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I believe the only reason they are doing this is because there is a serious need for more cannon fodder grunts to enlist and those shits in congress are hoping that some stupid teenagers will see this about the cannabis approval and jump at the chance to join the military, get fucked up and then be allowed to get high as a kite, while also seeing ghosts and talking about being cursed from fighting in Iraq and Syria. You can best believe that this is not being done out of the kindness of those heartless creatures in congress.
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If congress were really serious about helping people access medicinal cannabis, Shelby, they would simply vote to decriminalize it.
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