The Senate’s key committee adopted a bill amendment that allows doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical marijuana for veterans who live in states where it is legal.
Jeff Merkley, a Senator from Oregon, said this is the 10th consecutive year that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the MilConVA spending bill amendment. The measure, despite being repeatedly approved, has not been passed into law.
“Essentially [the amendment] Merkley stated at Thursday’s markup that in states where marijuana is legal veterans are able to talk with their doctors about the appropriate role of cannabis in their healthcare regime. It is not acceptable to interfere with doctors’ freedom to speak and do what is best for their patients. That is the reason this measure has been passed time after time.
This amendment is intended to be a standalone piece of legislation called the Veterans Equal Access Act. It is not yet known if the text of the proposal that was adopted by the committee will be identical to the one the House approved last month as part of their own MilConVA budget measure.
Merkley told reporters on Thursday, “I’d love to have it approved again, to continue to support veterans.” We were talking about how much stress these veterans face. In states where marijuana is legalized, let them talk to their doctors about the medicinal benefits that could be helpful and important for them.
On the House side, Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Dave Joyce (R-OH)—who are both co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus—sponsored the adopted companion amendment, which would increase veterans’ access to state medical marijuana programs and eliminate a current VA directive barring the department’s doctors from issuing cannabis recommendations.
Mast in February filed the standalone Veterans Equal Access Act—marking one of the latest attempt to enact the measure that’s enjoyed bipartisan support over recent sessions.
In past years, both the House and Senate have included provisions in their respective MilConVA measures that would permit VA doctors to make the medical cannabis recommendations, but they have never been enacted into law.
In the meantime, on Tuesday a GOP controlled House committee approved an addition to a defense bill which had to pass. This amendment required that a progress report be submitted on an ongoing pilot program of psychedelic therapies for military members on active duty and veterans.
—
MEDCAN24 has been tracking the hundreds of bills relating to cannabis, psychedelics or drug policies that have passed through state legislatures as well as Congress in this past year. Patreon members who pledge at least $25/month gain access to interactive maps, charts, and a hearing calendar.
Discover more about the marijuana bills tracker. Become a patron on Patreon and you will have access.
—
While Congress has been notably amenable to psychedelics research proposals in recent sessions, the House Rules Committee on Monday separately blocked a bipartisan amendment to a spending bill led by Luttrell that would have given DOD another $10 million to support clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of substances such as ibogaine and psilocybin.
Meanwhile, bipartisan congressional lawmakers recently met with the head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to discuss pathways to provide access to psychedelic medicine as an alternative treatment option for conditions such as PTSD.
After requesting the meeting with VA Secretary Doug Collins in May, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—founding co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—said the three had a productive conversations about advancing psychedelics therapy for the veteran community.
Collins has stood out as a VA secretary who’s especially passionate about exploring the potential of substances such as ibogaine and MDMA to provide relief from serious mental health conditions, coordinating with other officials including U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said recently that his aim is to free up plant-based medicine options within 12 months.
Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.
MEDCAN24 could not exist without readers’ support. Consider a Patreon subscription if our marijuana advocacy journalism is what you use to keep informed.
