On this eve of Veterans/Armistice Day where we remember those who
served in the military and the treaty agreement to reach peace
concluding WWI, we see this victory as a step toward a peace treaty with
the government we volunteered to defend with our lives and as a step
toward restoring our first amendment rights and dignity as citizens of the
United States, ” said TJ Thompson, a disabled Navy veteran.”
The Veterans Equal Access Amendment
was sponsored by Republican Senator
Steve Daines of Montana and Democratic
Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon. It passed
the Committee 18-12 in a bipartisan vote.
The funding bill will now be negotiated
with the House’s version as part of an omnibus
spending bill.
Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) specifically prohibits its medical
providers from completing forms brought
by their patients seeking recommendations
or opinions regarding participation in
a state medical marijuana program. The
Daines-Merkley amendment authorizes VA
physicians and other health care providers
to provide recommendations and opinions
regarding the use of medical marijuana
to veterans who live in medical marijuana
states.
In 2002, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
affirmed in Conant v. Walters the right of
physicians to recommend medical marijuana,
regardless of its illegality under federal
law, as well as the right of patients to
receive accurate information. The Daines16
Merkley amendment supports that first
amendment right and restores a healthy
doctor-patient relationship.
There are numerous federal healthcare
programs besides the VA such as Medicaid,
Medicare, and CHIP – but only the VA
prohibits physicians from discussing and
recommending medical marijuana to their
patients. A Medicare patient may freely
discuss medical marijuana use with her
doctor, while a returning veteran is denied
the same right.
Studies have shown that medical marijuana
can help treat post-traumatic stress
and traumatic brain injury, illnesses typically
suffered by veterans. A 2014 study of people
with PTSD showed a greater than 75%
reduction in severity of symptoms when
patients were using marijuana to treat their
illness, compared to when they were not.
A legislative version of the Daines-Merkley
amendment was included in groundbreaking
Senate medical marijuana legislation
introduced in March. The Compassionate
Access, Research Expansion and Respect
States (CARERS) Act is the first-ever bill in
the U.S. Senate to legalize marijuana for
medical use and the most comprehensive
medical marijuana bill ever introduced in
Congress. The bill was introduced by Senators
Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rand Paul (R-KY),
and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and generated
enormous interest.
With the Senate approving one element
in the bill, supporters say it is time for the
Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings
on the full bill. “The politics around
marijuana have shifted in recent years, yet
Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley hasn’t
held a hearing on the bill,” said Bill Piper,
director of national affairs for the Drug
Kurplemag.com Policy Alliance. “We will move the CARERS
Act piece by piece if we have to but now
is the time for the Senate to hold a hearing
on the bill as a whole.” The Veterans Equal
Access Amendment was sponsored by Republican
Senator Steve Daines of Montana
and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of
Oregon. It passed the Committee 18-12 in
a bipartisan vote. The funding bill will now
be negotiated with the House’s version as
part of an omnibus spending bill.
Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) specifically prohibits its medical
providers from completing forms brought
by their patients seeking recommendations
or opinions regarding participation in
a state medical marijuana program. The
Daines-Merkley amendment authorizes VA
physicians and other health care providers
to provide recommendations and opinions
regarding the use of medical marijuana
to veterans who live in medical marijuana
states.
In 2002, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
affirmed in Conant v. Walters the right of
physicians to recommend medical marijuana,
regardless of its illegality under federal
law, as well as the right of patients to
receive accurate information. The Daines-
Merkley amendment supports that first
amendment right and restores a healthy
doctor-patient relationship.
There are numerous federal healthcare
programs besides the VA such as Medicaid,
Medicare, and CHIP – but only the VA
prohibits physicians from discussing and
recommending medical marijuana to their
patients. A Medicare patient may freely
discuss medical marijuana use with her
doctor, while a returning veteran is denied
the same right.
Studies have shown that medical marijuana
can help treat post-traumatic stress
and traumatic brain injury, illnesses typically
suffered by veterans. A 2014 study of people
with PTSD showed a greater than 75%
reduction in severity of symptoms when
patients were using marijuana to treat their
illness, compared to when they were not.
A legislative version of the Daines-Merkley
amendment was included in groundbreaking
Senate medical marijuana legislation
introduced in March. The Compassionate
Access, Research Expansion and Respect
States (CARERS) Act is the first-ever bill in
the U.S. Senate to legalize marijuana for
medical use and the most comprehensive
medical marijuana bill ever introduced in
Congress. The bill was introduced by Senators
Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rand Paul (R-KY),
and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and generated
enormous interest.
With the Senate approving one element
in the bill, supporters say it is time for the
Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings
on the full bill. “The politics around
marijuana have shifted in recent years, yet
Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley hasn’t
held a hearing on the bill,” said Bill Piper,
director of national affairs for the Drug
Policy Alliance. “We will move the CARERS
Act piece by piece if we have to but now
is the time for the Senate to hold a hearing
on the bill as a whole.”
Home News & Politics News ” Amendment Would Allow VA Doctors to Recommend Medical Marijuana to Their...
