Bipartisan lawmakers are expressing frustration after a series of marijuana reform amendments failed to make it through a key House committee on Monday, complicating efforts to promote veterans’ medical access and provide protections for public housing residents from being evicted over cannabis.
The initial plan was to attach measures to a large-scale appropriations bill that would block the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from enforcing its current policy of prohibiting VA doctors from recommending medical cannabis to veterans, as well as a directive that currently bars the department from covering medical cannabis costs.
But on Monday, the House Rules Committee ultimately declined to make either of a pair of bipartisan amendments on the issue in order for floor consideration, with certain members arguing that the reform proposal was not germane to the appropriations process. Co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus issued a joint statement on Tuesday criticizing the inaction amid an urgent need to meet the moment for veterans.
“We have the responsibility to provide our veterans with the care and treatments they need to overcome the wounds of war,” Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Brian Mast (R-FL) said. “Our outdated federal cannabis
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