A powerful U.S. Senate committee is urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to explore the therapeutic potential of psychoedelics and facilitate veterans’ access to medical marijuana. The panel also wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture to take action to promote hemp genetics and the cannabis industry.
The Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved spending bills for the 2024 Fiscal Year that include a number cannabis-related issues. The text was released a few days after the panel had approved the legislation. One bill was amended so that VA doctors could talk about and recommend medical marijuana for patients who live in states where it is legal.
The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Report includes a section which directs VA to: “make appropriate suggestions, complete forms, take other actions, to facilitate a Veteran’s decision to join such programs approved by an State and document it properly, to the extent allowed under Federal Law.”
also notes the fact that the spending bill includes language prohibiting the use of funds “to interfere with the ability for veterans to participate in State approved medicinal cannabis programs, or to deny service to these veterans”.
The report also discusses “the increased interest in psychedelic therapy and its potential therapeutic effects on veterans”.
The committee urged VA to “explore the opportunities to assist privately-funded research to evaluate the effectiveness of psychedelic therapy in treating PTSD and major depressive disorders, as well as other serious mental conditions.”
Hemp-related provisions are included in a separate report on the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies budget measure.
There’s a section, for example, that encourages USDA Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) “biotechnology and genomes research” with academic institutions in order to “elucidate genetic control of key product quality and production traits in hemp in order to facilitate cultivar design.”
The Appropriators will also provide at least the same amount of funding for the Fiscal Year 2023 to support the collaboration between USDA with capable institutions in order to conduct research focused on improving hemp genetics using “new breeding techniques and editing techniques.”
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The report of the committee also states that “it recognizes the growing demand for hemp in a variety uses, and its increasing importance as a crop to U.S. Farmers.”
The senators stated that the “hemp germplasm” was “destroyed in the 1980s,” and that researchers “lost access to publicly-available germplasm to plant breeders.” In an effort to correct this problem, the report states that it will provide funding to USDA’s ARS for the maintenance of a “hemp genetics resources research unit at the Plant Genetics Resources Research Unit.”
The document also calls on ARS and its research unit to “partner up with 1890 institutions who have institutional capacity in hemp germplasm research and education and extension capabilities.”
In another section, the committee acknowledges that hemp and hemp products derived from hemp in the United States have a wide range of applications.
The Committee states that “ARS is directed to engage in regionally-driven development and research as well as stakeholder engagement for a better understanding of the agronomic, agroeconomic, and marketing aspects of integrating hemp into current agricultural cropping, processing and marketing systems.” The Committee allocates no less than fiscal year 2023 for this purpose. The research, engagement and technology transfer must be carried out in strict compliance with all Federal and State authorities.
The report also states that in order to recognize the growing interest in hemp, the committee has directed the administrative Farm Credit Administration “to work with the institutions within its jurisdiction to ensure access to guaranteed loan for hemp producers and business.”
On the House side, however, a congressional panel approved recently a large-scale defence bill which includes GOP-led provisions that create a “medical marijuana pilot program” and requires a study of the therapeutic potential of psychoedelics among active duty military personnel under the U.S. Department of Defense.
Maryland Marijuana Legalization takes effect this weekend, with sales set to launch as Governor Recommits to Equity Goals
Photo by Mike Latimer.
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