A Republican congressman says his GOP colleagues in the Senate made a “detrimental” mistake by blocking language from a key spending bill that would have increased military veterans’ access to medical marijuana in legal states.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) told Marijuana Moment last week that he felt it was “ridiculous” the Senate declined to include the medical cannabis provisions in the appropriations legislation President Donald Trump signed into law last week. The omission came despite the fact that similar language was already approved in different forms by both chambers earleir this year.
“It was a great and easy opportunity to do so, and a sensical thing to move forward—and detrimental to veterans to not do so,” Mast, co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, said.
The congressman, an Army veteran who lost both of his legs while serving as an explosive ordnance disposal technician in Afghanistan, also noted that it came as a surprise that the cannabis and veterans section was left out—as Senate leadership “didn’t reach over and announce” that they’d be doing so ahead of the final package being released and enacted into law within a span of days.
On the Senate side, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) sponsored an
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