The U.S. House of Representatives has approved amendments to a large-scale spending bill that would allow U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical cannabis to military veterans and promote research into substances like psilocybin and MDMA.
Just one day after the House Rules Committee made the measures in order for floor consideration, they passed on the floor on Wednesday and are advancing as part of appropriations legislation covering Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilCon/VA).
The medical cannabis measure, which was filed by the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus—Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Barbara Lee (D-CA)—passed in a voice vote.
Their amendment, which was later cosponsored by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), would specifically prohibit the use of VA funds to enforce provisions of an existing directive that bars doctors from making medical cannabis recommendations to veterans.
Veterans face a “Department of Veterans Affairs that does not allow their primary care physicians, their post-deployment clinics, to discuss the medical treatment options,and work with them through the paperwork for those medical treatment options that are actually available in their states,” Mast said. “If they’re not working with
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