The full US House of Representatives has given approval to an amendment that would allow Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical marijuana.
Currently, under the law, VA doctors are prohibited from recommending medical marijuana to their patients, even if those patients reside in states where medical marijuana is legal. However, a provision aimed at removing this prohibition and allowing VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana received approval today in the House by a vote of 290 to 116, following its passage by the House Rules Committee yesterday.
This vote officially incorporates the amendment into a $1.5 trillion Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which is essential for funding national defense and various military operations. The amendment is based on the text of the bipartisan Veterans Equal Access Act, which boasts 29 bipartisan sponsors.
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’’.
