Veterans are some of the highest suffering cannabis patients in the U.S. – because they get a lot of their medical funding from the federal government, it is almost impossible for them to get marijuana recommended to them as a medicine. Now, however, a U.S. Congressman has proposed a new act that would effectively allow VA medical providers to recommend cannabis as a treatment.
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) is the man behind this amendment, which he would be adding to the 2017 military appropriations bill. If the amendment goes through, doctors will be able to recommend marijuana to veterans who live in legal states.
“I have heard from countless people about the therapeutic aspects of medical marijuana,” Blumenauer stated in an interview with High Times. “There are a whole range of benefits that people receive, and yet the VA doesn’t allow doctors to talk to their patients about medical marijuana.”
“I just think it’s unfortunate that the doctors who know them best aren’t able to discuss this as a treatment option in states where it is legal,” he added. “It is particularly ironic because VA patients have opioid overdoses that kill them [at rates] nearly twice the national average.”
Veterans also feel it is high time to gain access to cannabis if it helps their conditions.
“I volunteered my life to protect this country, yet due to federal prohibition and interference, my treatment options as a disabled veteran are limited,” U.S. Navy Veteran T.J. Thompson told High Times. “With suicide and prescription drug abuse plaguing our veteran population, it is about time that a Member Congress has decided to stand up for those of us who stood up to protect their rights.”
Although this same amendment has failed in the past, Blumenauer is confident that this time it will pass, since it is being introduced alongside similar cannabis legislation, and because of the changes to the overall climate in regards to legal marijuana over the past few years. If this measure passes, veterans will no longer have to fight and struggle to gain access to the medicine that helps them.
“This is something that is coming,” Blumenauer reiterated to High Times. “It’s a better service for vets. It’s fair. And momentum is building.”
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