{"id":6026,"date":"2017-12-27T22:43:27","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T03:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lcpllutzlivetotell.org\/?p=6026"},"modified":"2019-08-08T12:50:28","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:50:28","slug":"veterans-access-cannabis-2017-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/?p=6026","title":{"rendered":"Veterans and access to cannabis: 2017 in review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Charles Schmidt, National Commander of the American Legion, speaks to the media while flanked by Verna Jones, Executive Director of the American Legion in the District, during a news conference at the National Press Club on February 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. Schmidt spoke about critical veteran’s issues facing the new Trump administration and Congress. The Legion has now called on Trump to reschedule cannabis for medical research to assist veterans. (Mark Wilson, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Veterans and access to cannabis: 2017 in review<\/h1>\n

2017 was a year of both setbacks and progress for veterans and their supporters, seeking greater access to legal medical marijuana<\/h3>\n

PUBLISHED:\u00a0

By\u00a0Bruce Kennedy<\/a><\/span>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n

2017 was a year of frustration but also incremental progress for military veterans, veterans\u2019 organizations and supporters, as they continued to lobby federal and state politicians to expand legalized medical marijuana research \u2014 as well as greater veteran access to legal pot for treatment of a variety of ailments, including chronic pain and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n

Despite concerns about crackdowns, as well as some setbacks, steady pressure was applied to politicians to at least consider an evolution of current policies. Here\u2019s a roundup of how some of those efforts have played out over the course of this year:<\/p>\n

January<\/strong>
\nThe U.S.\u00a0Air Force announces<\/a>\u00a0that previous marijuana use will not disqualify potential recruits to the service.<\/p>\n

February<\/strong>
\nNew Mexico\u2019s state legislature\u00a0advanced a medical marijuana program<\/a>\u00a0that would have automatically allowed all military veterans to qualify as patients. But the bill apparently never made to a\u00a0vote of the full state senate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0Quinnipiac poll<\/a>\u00a0finds 71 percent of Americans opposed a federal crackdown of legal marijuana, while 93 percent are in favor of medical cannabis.<\/p>\n

March\u00a0<\/strong>
\nResearchers with the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), sponsors of an FDA-approved study of medical marijuana\u2019s effectiveness to treat PTSD in veterans, make national headlines when they\u00a0criticize<\/a>\u00a0the poor quality and low potency of the\u00a0federally-grown marijuana<\/a>\u00a0made available to researchers by the federal government.<\/p>\n

Johns Hopkins University withdraws<\/a>\u00a0from the MAPS-sponsored study of cannabis and PTSD in veterans. A university spokesperson said Johns Hopkins\u2019s goals for the study were no longer \u201cin alignment\u201d with those of MAPS. A spokesperson for MAPS, however said the dispute was primarily over the\u00a0poor quality of the government-supplied marijuana<\/a>\u00a0used in the clinical trials.<\/p>\n

April<\/strong>
\nIn Texas,\u00a0veterans rallied alongside conservative Christian moms<\/a>\u00a0at the state Capitol in favor of medical marijuana legislation.<\/p>\n

May<\/strong>
\nIn Delaware,\u00a0a bill calling for the expansion of permissible uses for medical marijuana in the state,<\/a>\u00a0to include anxiety conditions including PTSD, stalls in the state senate. A weaker version\u00a0passed two days later.<\/a><\/p>\n

The American Legion, the nation\u2019s largest veterans service organization,\u00a0calls on President Trump to reclassify cannabis<\/a>\u00a0from its current federal Schedule I status, in order to \u201cclear the way for clinical research in the cutting edge areas of cannabinoid receptor research.\u201d Legion officials stressed they are not advocating for marijuana legalization but want more research on the plant \u2013 to \u201cenable our elected leaders and the American people to have a national discussion on the matter based on scientific evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking at a \u201cState of the VA\u201d address at the White House, Veterans Affairs (VA)\u00a0Secretary David Shulkin says federal law prevents the department from implementing any potential benefits of medical marijuana<\/a>\u00a0for veterans. However, he added, \u201cI believe that everything that could help veterans should be debated by Congress and by medical experts, and we will implement that law. So if there is compelling evidence that this is helpful, I hope that people take a look at that and come up with the right decision, and then we will implement that.\u201d<\/p>\n

June<\/strong>
\nColorado\u2019s governor Hickenlooper signs into law a bill that\u00a0adds PTSD as a qualifying condition<\/a>\u00a0for medical marijuana patients. The change comes after years of lobbying in the state by veterans.<\/p>\n

A bipartisan group of senators and representatives\u00a0reintroduce legislation in Congress, to protect patients in states where medical marijuana has been legalized.<\/a>\u00a0The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act would not legalize medical marijuana federally, but would amend federal law to officially allow states to set their own medical marijuana policies. Under the bill, VA physicians would be able to recommend medical marijuana to their veteran patients, which they are currently barred from doing.<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issues a letter to congressional leaders; calling on them to remove current\u00a0federal protections on medical marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in states where it is legal. The protections, previously known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, now the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, prohibit the Justice Department from using federal funds to prevent certain states \u201cfrom implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the amendment\u2019s co-authors, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., says the attorney general was acting in opposition to \u201can overwhelming majority of Americans and even, sadly, against veterans and other suffering Americans who we now know conclusively are helped dramatically by medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n

July<\/strong>
\nThe U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee\u00a0voted to allow VA doctors in states where medical marijuana is legal<\/a>\u00a0to \u201cmake appropriate recommendations, fill out forms, or take steps to comply with such a program.\u201d The Veterans Equal Access Amendment to the 2018 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill would also have prohibited federal funds from interfering with a veteran\u2019s ability to take part in medical marijuana programs approved by states. But later that month, the\u00a0House Rules Committee<\/a>decided not to allow the medical marijuana amendment to proceed to a full vote.<\/p>\n

A diverse group of cannabis advocates\u00a0filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)<\/a>\u00a0as it pertains to marijuana. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) acting administrator Charles Rosenberg were named as defendants in the lawsuit brought by an Iraq War vet with post-traumatic stress disorder, a former NFL player, two children using medical marijuana, and a social justice nonprofit organization.<\/p>\n

August<\/strong>
\nAn independent national organization that supports state legislatures again voiced its support for federal rescheduling of cannabis. The bipartisan\u00a0National Conference of State Legislature<\/a>s (NCSL) passed a resolution at its annual meeting asking the federal government to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.<\/p>\n

At its annual national convention, the\u00a0American Legion passed a resolution<\/a>\u00a0urging the federal government to \u201cpermit VA medical providers to be able to discuss with veterans the use of marijuana for medical purposes and recommend it in those states where medical marijuana laws exist.\u201d At the same event, Dr. Sue Sisley, who supervises\u00a0the first federally-approved clinical trial<\/a>\u00a0on the effectiveness of medical marijuana as treatment for veterans with PTSD, warns that Arizona-base study is in jeopardy if the Phoenix Veterans Administration Health Care System doesn\u2019t participate with patient recruitment efforts.<\/p>\n

September<\/strong>
\nThe American Legion\u00a0called on the VA<\/a>\u00a0to clear away obstacles that threaten the completion of a groundbreaking MAPS clinical study on the use of medical marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in U.S. military veterans. Denise Rohan, the Legion\u2019s national commander, sent a letter to VA Secretary Shulkin, calling for his \u201cdirect involvement\u201d in ensuring \u201cthis critical research is fully enabled.\u201d<\/p>\n

October<\/strong>
\nAll ten Democratic representatives on the\u00a0House Committee on Veterans Affairs<\/a>\u00a0send a letter to VA Secretary Shulkin, urging him to ensure the VA\u2019s research and development office fulfills \u201cits stated mission,\u201d by allowing research into the effects of marijuana on military veterans suffering from chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n

Delaware Gov. John Carney\u00a0signs into law the Bravery Bill<\/a>, which allows PTSD patients to receive a medical marijuana card from any properly licensed physician. Previously, PTSD patients could only get approval for medical marijuana from a licensed psychiatrist.<\/p>\n

November<\/strong>
\nA\u00a0survey commissioned by the American Legion<\/a>\u00a0finds that 81 percent of veterans and 83 percent of caregivers support the federal legalization of cannabis to treat a physical or mental condition.<\/p>\n

A bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives, along with several combat veterans and the mother of a Marine who died by suicide after struggling with prescribed pharmaceuticals,\u00a0urge Congress to advance efforts<\/a>\u00a0for medical marijuana research.<\/p>\n

On Veteran\u2019s Day,\u00a0New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs legislation<\/a>\u00a0to add PTSD to the list of ailments that can legally be treated with medical marijuana in the state.<\/p>\n

According to the Marijuana Policy Project<\/a>, 28 states plus Washington, D.C. now include PTSD in their medical marijuana programs, a number that has reportedly doubled over the past two years.<\/p>\n

December<\/strong>
\nThe\u00a0VA issues a new directive<\/a>\u00a0for clinical programs that frees its doctors and pharmacists to discuss marijuana with military vets taking part in state-approved medical marijuana programs. Doctors and pharmacists may discuss marijuana use with vets requesting information, according to the directive.<\/p>\n

Retrieved from: http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/12\/27\/military-veterans-cannabis-legislation-ptsd\/95367\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charles Schmidt, National Commander of the American Legion, speaks to the media while flanked by Verna Jones, Executive Director of the American Legion in the District, during a news conference at the National Press Club on February 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. Schmidt spoke about critical veteran’s issues facing the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cannabis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}