A powerful congressional committee is allowing an amendment that would let military veterans receive recommendations for medical marijuana through their doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to advance to a vote on the House floor.
The proposal from Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Dina Titus (D-NV), if enacted, would prevent VA from enforcing a longstanding directive that has blocked its providers from assisting veterans with registering for state medical cannabis programs.
Under current policy, VA doctors can discuss marijuana use with their patients, but they cannot fill out forms to help them actually get legal access to cannabis. As a result, veterans need to seek outside, often expensive, services from separate providers instead of just being able to get assistance from their own doctors at VA.
