Research on the benefits of cannabis for military veterans gets support

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Studies to show how cannabis can treat anxiety, PTSD and more for vets is getting support

It has long been demonstrated that military veterans can derive great benefits from the properties of marijuana, which is why a bill has been introduced that seeks to further promote therapeutic marijuana research for this group of people. The initiative is expected to be considered by the House Committee this week.

Representative Lou Correa is sponsoring the legislation, titled the VA Cannabis Research Act, which she hopes will meet with adequate success when it comes up for discussion by the House Veterans Affairs Health Subcommittee in the coming days. The idea behind the legislation is to require the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to initiate a series of clinical trials in order to gain a better understanding of how medical marijuana can contribute to symptoms caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain.

Previous versions of this legislation have not been truly successful in the face of opposition that VA representatives have voiced on previous occasions. However, many advocates are hopeful that Joe Biden’s administration will finally give its backing to incremental reform this time around. A couple of weeks ago, Correa said he had previously had a conversation with VA Secretary Denis McDonough “to discuss this specific issue of cannabis is a reference to veterans.”

“California was the first state in the union to legalize cannabis way back in 1996,” the congressman said. “So far, we know cannabis is good for seizures, glaucoma, chronic pain, PTSD and god knows what are the [other] things it’s good for. But we won’t know until we do the medical research, and we cannot do medical research until cannabis is declassified at the federal level.”