An amendment that would allow physicians at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recommend medical marijuana to their patients has been approved by the House Rules Committee.
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The House Rules Committee yesterday gave approval to an amendment to a $1.5 trillion Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies appropriations bill that would provide veterans with legal access to state-level medical marijuana programs. Filed by Congressmembers Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Brian Mast (R-FL) and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), the amendment is based on the Veterans Equal Access Act. The bipartisan legislation was filed last year and currently has 29 sponsors.
The measure would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to authorize providers to discuss medical marijuana with veterans and recommend its use if the patient is located in a legal marijuana state and the physician believes it could be beneficial.
Under current law, physicians at the VA are prohibited from discussing marijuana with their patients, and veterans who receive care from VA facilities cannot receive the forms required to participate in medical marijuana programs – regardless of whether the state they reside in has legalized it for medical use. The Veterans Equal Access Act would change this by providing federal protection to VA doctors who discuss and recommend medical cannabis.
Specifically, the amendment states that “None of the funds appropriated or other wise made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used to enforce Veterans Health Directive 1315 as it relates to:
- the policy stating that ‘‘VHA providers are prohibited from completing forms or registering Veterans for participation in a State-approved marijuana program’’;
- the directive for the ‘‘Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management’’ to ensure that ‘‘medical facility Directors are aware that it is VHA policy for providers to assess Veteran use of marijuana but providers are prohibited from recommending, making referrals to or completing paperwork for Veteran participation in State marijuana programs’’; and
- the directive for the ‘‘VA Medical Facility Director’’ to ensure that ‘‘VA facility staff are aware of the following’’ ‘‘[t]he prohibition on recommending, making referrals to or completing forms and registering Veterans for participation in State approved marijuana programs’’.
