A House committee has allowed amendments on marijuana and psychedelics to be voted on. The measures are proposed to be included in a large spending bill and focus on allowing doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs to recommend medical marijuana to veterans. They also promote research into substances such as psilocybin, MDMA, and psilocybin.
The House Rules Committee blocked the advancement of additional amendments on Tuesday that would have ended the practice of drug-testing job applicants for marijuana in certain federal agencies and addressed VA medical marijuana separately as part of the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Legislation that covers Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.
Earlier this week, the committee voted to block more than a dozen amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act.
Two sets of bipartisan legislators have separately filed identical amendments for the current spending measure to protect veterans who use medical cannabis in states where it is legal, as well doctors at the VA that issue recommendations to allow such participation.
One of the measures, however, was revised before the committee meeting in order to prohibit the use VA funds for the enforcement of provisions of a directive that prevents doctors from making medical cannabis recommendations. The co-chairs, Brian Mast, Earl Blumenauer, Dave Joyce, and Barbara Lee, were the ones who introduced the amendment. It is now going to a vote on the floor. Later, Reps. Jim McGovern and Matt Gaetz joined them as cosponsors.
Mast, who is a veteran of the military, spoke out at Tuesday’s Rules Committee meeting to urge members to vote on the reform. He described his experience as an injured serviceman who was given a number of addictive prescription medications while he was incapacitated. He said that cannabis should be available to veterans as an alternative form of medicine that does not harm their families as much as legal narcotics.
Mast stated, “I would not pretend to know which veterans are better off with medical marijuana, and which veterans suffer from it, whether it is for their mental health, their physical health or anything else.” “I can point out specific cases of friends who have flourished with medical marijuana, as I’ve said.”
He said that the laws in their state programs prevent doctors from having honest discussions with veterans about cannabis medication, including whether or not it is a good option for them. “I believe that this is something that should be changed.”
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-SC asked for clarifications on the amendment. He concluded that “it’s amazing that this is not allowed” by VA doctors to help their VA patients qualify for state medicinal cannabis programs.
He said, “I think very few people are aware of this.” “Thanks for bringing this up.”
The other cannabis proposal, which was not allowed to be voted on, would have prohibited VA funding from being used to interfere with veterans’ participation in medical cannabis programs in states, doctors filling in recommendations, or to deny veterans benefits who use medical marijuana. The bill was sponsored by Reps. Greg Steube, Nancy Mace and Dina T. Titus.
Since years, I have been a member of Congress and working on legislation to ensure that veterans get the care they deserve. Some veterans may be able to receive care that includes medicinal cannabis.
I proposed an amendment to the 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, & Related Agencies…
Congressman Greg Steube July 25th, 2023
“I have been working for years on legislation in Congress to make sure veterans get the care they need.” Steube stated in a release that some veterans may be able to receive care by using medicinal cannabis. “The VA shouldn’t deny benefits to a veteran if they are using legal products in their home state.” It’s a bipartisan matter, and I hope my colleagues from both sides will support my proposal.
Mace said that it was time to acknowledge the potential benefits and empower our vets to make informed healthcare decisions.
She said: “Let’s honor their sacrifice by embracing innovation, compassion, and the pursuit for a better life quality for those who served our nation.”
The Rules Committee has also put on the floor for a vote an amendment by Reps. Lou Correa, (D-CA), and Jack Bergman, (R-MI), which would encourage the research of the therapeutic potentials of certain psychedelics.
The legislators, who are founding co-chairs a Congressional psychedelics Caucus, which promotes research on entheogenic drugs, pushed the measure Monday before the committee meeting.
The Bergman-Correa bill does not mention psychedelics specifically, but instead increases and decreases the funding of an unrelated section of the bill. This is a tactic used by lawmakers to communicate to federal agencies their key priorities while not actually changing the legislative text.
The summary of this proposal, posted by the Rules Committee, states that it “increases and reduces the Medical and Prosthetic Research Account at the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to ensure that the VA conducts large scale studies into the efficacy of medications with FDA-designated breakthrough therapy status to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder through VA-administered Drug Assisted Therapy Trials.”
House members are expected to discuss the psychedelics amendment and the medical cannabis for veterans as early as Wednesday.
Robert Garcia (D-CA) also offered an amendment that the panel rejected. The bill would have prohibited the testing of marijuana for drug use by job applicants at federal agencies that are covered by it. The Rules Committee will be taking up the amendment on Wednesday.
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Garcia also submitted an amendment earlier this month to the NDAA which would have prohibited denials of security clearances for federal employees due to prior cannabis use. The Rules Committee rejected 15 amendments on drug policy.
Democrat senators, meanwhile, are trying to pass a number of marijuana reform amendments in their version of the NDAA.
One of the proposals led by Sen. Brian Schatz, (D-HI), allows veterans to use medical marijuana in states and territories that allow it. This is similar to a separate bill that Senator Schatz introduced back in April.
The law would also protect doctors who fill out and discuss paperwork to recommend medical cannabis for veterans. It would also require that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs support clinical trials to investigate the therapeutic effects of marijuana in treating conditions like pain and post-traumatic disorder (PTSD), which commonly affect veterans.
It is not clear if Senate Democrats will agree to include any of these amendments into the final bill, or if the GOP controlled House would accept them if they were attached by the Senate.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment that would allow VA doctors issue medical cannabis recommendations . also released a report on the relevant spending bill, which calls for the department to ease veterans’ access to medical marijuana and explore the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics.
House and Senate Appropriators have approved large-scale spending bills, which include once again language to protect medical cannabis programs in states, as well as an controversial rider that blocks Washington, D.C.’s implementation of a regulated marijuana sale system.
Ohio Marijuana Legalization measure falls 679 signatures short of November ballot, but activists now have 10 days to fix that
The post House Committee Approves Marijuana and Psychedelics Amendments for Floor Votes While Blocking Others first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
