April 29, 2019
On April 30, the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing for multiple pieces of legislation, including the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act, the Veterans Equal Access Act and the Veterans Cannabis Use for Safe Healing Act.
In the last Congress, the previous iteration of the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act was passed by the Committee, yet was not advanced to the floor by the Republican leadership of the time. The legislation “would direct VA to conduct clinical research with varying forms of medicinal cannabis to evaluate the safety and effects of cannabis on health outcomes of veterans with PTSD and veterans with chronic pain.”
The Veterans Equal Access Act has been introduced for a number of sessions now by Representative Earl Blumenauer, the co-Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, yet has yet to receive consideration until now. Presently, V.A. doctors are forbidden from providing the paperwork necessary to complete a recommendation, thus forcing military veterans to seek the advice of a private, out-of-network physician. Passage of this bill would lift this prohibition.
The Veterans Cannabis Use for Safe Healing Act similar legislation the Veterans Equal Access Act and is the first time that is has been introduced to Congress.
You can send a message in favor of the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act to your lawmakers by clicking HERE.
You can send a message in favor of the Veterans Equal Access Act to your lawmakers by clicking HERE.
