The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to let military veterans receive recommendations for medical marijuana through their doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—while also approving a separate amendment focused on the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics.
The cannabis proposal from Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Dina Titus (D-NV) passed by a voice vote on Thursday.
If enacted into law, the amendment 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 being able to get assistance from their own doctors at VA.
That would change under the new amendment from the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, which is now attached to the Fiscal Year 2027 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
Mast, himself a military veteran who lost two legs during combat in Afghanistan, said on the floor ahead of the vote that medical cannabis programs
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