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A bipartisan duo tabled a bill to Congress on Friday that would make it clear that US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors can discuss state-approved marijuana programs with veterans.

MPs Conor Lamb (D-PA) and Peter Meijer (R-MI) tabled the “Full Informed Veteran Act,” which would allow VA physicians to provide veterans with basic information and resources about state-legal cannabis programs to deliver.

As for veterans and marijuana-specific legislation, this is a particularly modest reform.

The VA secretary “authorizes physicians and other health care providers to the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide veterans resident in states with state-approved marijuana programs with information about such veterans’ participation in such programs.” the text says.

“Information” is defined as “educational materials, Internet website, and relevant contact information for the federally approved marijuana program”.

However, legislation would not allow VA physicians to actually recommend veterans about participating in these state programs.

Under the VA’s current administrative guidelines, doctors in the department are currently allowed to discuss cannabis with patients and document their use in medical records, and those seasoned patients are already protected from losing their marijuana benefits – but the new bill would become even more legal Establishes a basic policy to provide information about cannabis programs to those living in areas where it is legal.

It does so because several bills to end the federal cannabis ban are being drafted and presented at this session. Most recently, a measure approved by the US House of Representatives last year to legalize marijuana and promote social justice was resubmitted by Justice Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

While Lamb supports this veteran-centric medical cannabis legislation, it remains to be seen where he would tackle this broader reform, as he was among the very few Democratic lawmakers to most recently voted against the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act in Congress .

The subject will almost certainly come up if Lamb competes in the race to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate – a move he is said to be seriously considering.

According to polls, not only is legalization popular with Pennsylvania voters, but the state’s lieutenant governor John Fetterman (D) is a strong advocate of ending prohibition and is already promoting legalization for the Senate seat on a platform. If Lamb gets into the race, his vote against sweeping cannabis reform in Congress would like to be a hot topic.

But as a former Marine, Lamb has geared his marijuana reform agenda to veteran-related policy change. And he’s not alone in this session.

Two Republican MPs tabled a bill to Congress in April to encourage research into the medical potential of marijuana for military veterans.

This was tabled the day after a bipartisan Senate bill was passed – and the same day that House members tabled an accompanying bill – mandating VA to conduct clinical trials of marijuana for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain across the population .

Last year the House Veterans Affairs Committee approved an earlier version of this bill, as well as a separate proposal that would allow doctors in VA to give medical cannabis recommendations to patients in states where it is legal, but they have not moved forward.

Meijer, the Republican co-sponsor of Lamb’s latest proposal, is also an original sponsor of the VA Medical Cannabis Research Act.

In April, a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress also reintroduced bills that would federally legalize medical cannabis for military veterans.

This bill is sponsored by Reps Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Dave Joyce (R-OH), both co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, in the House of Representatives, along with nine other original co-sponsors. On the Senate side, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) leads the proposal and is supported by five other lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

The Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act would temporarily allow veterans to legally possess and use cannabis under federal law as recommended by doctors in accordance with state law. Doctors with VA could also make such recommendations for the first time. Additionally, VA would need to investigate the therapeutic potential of marijuana for pain relief and reducing opioid abuse.

Both the House and Senate have previously approved annual expense bills that include drivers preventing VA from punishing doctors for writing medical marijuana recommendations, but no such legislation has yet been passed.

MP Greg Steube (R-FL) tabled a proposal in January to ensure that military veterans are not punished for using medical cannabis in accordance with state law. It would also state that VA doctors would be allowed to discuss the risks and benefits of marijuana with their patients.

Meanwhile, congressional leaders are working to end the federal marijuana ban entirely.

In addition to the MORE Act of the House of Representatives from Chairman Nadler, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) are in attendance, a comprehensive one Legalization law, and Schumer said it would be put on the floor “soon”.

Read the text of the fully informed Veterans Act below:

Fully informed marijuana veterans law moment

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