Congress to vote on two cannabis bills for military vets this week

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Two legislative pieces look to provide marijuana relief to vets

The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote on two medical marijuana bills that were created to bring relief to military veterans. These two bipartisan bills were discussed nearly a year ago at a panel that was held by Congress and then a pending ballot was canceled later. The bills were created to allow veterans to have better access to legal, medical cannabis under state laws, as well as expanding current research on cannabis therapeutic effects. On Thursday, the committee will vote on the Veterans Equal Access Act and the VA Medical Cannabis Research Act, which advocates hope this time receives approval.

The first bill was presented by Representative Earl Blumenauer with the goal of allowing doctors from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to prescribe and recommend medical cannabis to patients in states where cannabis is legal. “In the 33 states that have medical cannabis programs, veterans are forced out of the VA health care system and away from their trusted physicians to obtain, and pay for, medical cannabis,” Blumenauer told Marijuana Moment. “My legislation is a simple fix to an unnecessary problem, and I’m glad to hear the Veterans Affairs Committee is taking it up. I’m working to get this bill to the House floor as soon as possible. Our veterans have been waiting for too long.”

There have been previous actions taken to tackle this issue; for instance, both the House and Senate approved annual spending bills with riders blocking the VA from punishing doctors. But this is the first time that this measure will be enacted into law.