Democratic senators are seeking to pass a series of marijuana reform amendments, including a proposal to legalize medical cannabis for military veterans, through a must-pass defense bill that’s set to be considered this week.
Lawmakers are aiming to attach the cannabis measures, as well as a separate GOP-sponsored amendment that would ramp up fentanyl-related enforcement while removing barriers to research for Schedule I drugs, to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
While the House under GOP control quashed more than a dozen bipartisan drug policy reform amendments that were proposed for that chamber’s version of NDAA last week, the Senate is attempting to use its bill to advance other incremental changes.
One of the new amendments, led by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), would allow veterans to use medical cannabis in states and territories where its legal, mirroring a standalone bill that the senator introduced in April.
It would additionally protect doctors who discuss and fill out paperwork to recommend medical marijuana for veterans. And it would require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support clinical trials investigating the therapeutic effects of cannabis in the treatment of conditions such as pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that commonly afflict
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