Albeit there was a lot of support for a Congressional amendment with the goal of giving veterans support to medical cannabis without many barriers, it does not seem as though legislatures would like to allow this yet. Despite the fact that these men and women risked their lives to protect the United States and its citizens, they do not have the ability to talk to doctors under the Department of Veterans Affairs about medical marijuana.
It looks as though Congressional leadership has decided to get rid of the Veterans Equal Access Amendment with no say from anyone else. A report from another source indicates that the final draft of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2017 was published last week. To the surprise of many, there was no mentioned of allowing Veterans Affairs doctors to recommend medical cannabis.
Towards the end of May, both the United States House of Representatives (233-to-189) and the Senate (20-to-9), for the first time ever, decided to approve the amendment, which gave cannabis advocates and patients, alike, a positive outlook that the next federal budget would finally allow Veterans to finally have access to medical marijuana. Not only were these actions considered huge when it comes to the government’s position on marijuana, but the fact that the amendment was in the 2017 federal budget made it a “sure thing.”
“Blocking this amendment at the conference committee stage is an assault on democracy and those Americans who risked their lives and health to defend it,” said Michael Liszewski, Government Affairs Director of Americans for Safe Access (ASA). “It’s shocking that House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers would allow a veterans health care provision that won by wide margins in a Senate committee and on the House floor to be stripped from the bill behind closed doors.”
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