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A proposal allowing veterans to receive medical marijuana recommendations from their Department of Veterans Affairs doctors is set for consideration by the full House after being cleared by the Hous
The amendment, filed by U.S. Representatives Brian Mast (R), Dave Joyce (R) and Dina Titus (D), would block the VA from using funds in the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act to enforce portions of Veterans Health Directive 1315 that bar VA providers from helping veterans access state-legal medical marijuana programs.
Under existing VA policy, doctors may talk with veterans about marijuana use, but they are not allowed to complete state medical marijuana forms, make referrals or help register veterans for participation in approved programs. Because of that restriction, veterans who may qualify for medical marijuana are often forced to go outside the VA system and pay separate providers for documentation.
The amendment would prevent the department from enforcing the directive’s prohibition on VA providers completing forms or registering veterans for state medical marijuana programs. It would also block enforcement of related instructions requiring VA officials and medical facility directors to ensure staff understand they cannot recommend, refer or complete paperwork for veterans seeking access.
The House Rules Committee on Tuesday cleared the amendment for floor consideration, allowing it to be taken up as part of the broader appropriations bill. A vote is expected later this week.
A similar amendment recently passed the full legislature as part of a budget bill, but it was later removed during reconciliation before reaching final approval. Supporters are now trying again through the VA appropriations process.
If approved, the change would not create a federal medical marijuana program through the VA, but it would remove a long-standing barrier that has kept veterans from using their own VA doctors to access state-legal medical marijuana.
The full text of the amendment can be found below:
None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used to enforce Veterans Health Directive 1315 as it relates to—
(1) the policy stating that ‘VHA providers are prohibited from completing forms or registering Veterans for participation in a State-approved marijuana program’;
(2) 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
(3) 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.
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