Bipartisan congressional lawmakers are cheering the passage of marijuana and psychedelics amendments that were included in a spending bill that was approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
While not every drug policy reform amendment that lawmakers proposed made it in the final legislation covering Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilCon/VA), two key measures did advance.
One would allow U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations to veterans, and the other would encourage research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics.
“This is a win for our bipartisan efforts to make it easier for veterans to access medical cannabis in state legal programs,” Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus who sponsored the marijuana amendment, said in a joint statement. “Our courageous veterans deserve the ability to use cannabis to treat PTSD, chronic illness and injury, or other injuries seen and unseen.”
“Time after time, data has revealed that the mortality rate from opiate overdoses among VA patients is nearly double the national average,” the four lawmakers said. “In states where patients can legally access medical cannabis to treat painful
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