News | Laws & Legislation | January 2017

News | Laws & Legislation | January 2017

News | Laws & Legislation | January 2017

Congress Votes to Permit Military Veterans Access to Medical Cannabis

Washington, DC: Members of the US House and Senate have voted to expand military veterans’ access to medicinal cannabis in states that allow it.

House members voted 233 to 189 last week in favor of the Veterans Equal Access Amendment. The amendment, offered by Rep. Blumenauer (D-OR) to the Fiscal Year 2017 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, prohibits the federal government from sanctioning V.A. physicians who wish to recommend cannabis therapy to their patients.

Under the provision, military veterans who reside in states with active medical marijuana programs would be able to obtain a recommendation from their V.A. physician rather than having to seek out a private doctor. Presently, V.A. physicians are forbidden from providing the paperwork necessary for veterans to access medical cannabis in states that permit its therapeutic use.

House members defeated a similar amendment last year by a vote of 213 to 210.

Members of the US Senate had already approved similar language in their version of the re-authorization bill.

The House and Senate versions of FY 2017 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations now await a concurrence vote prior to being sent to the President.

For more information, please contact Danielle Keane, NORML Political Director, at (202) 483-5500.

Federal Marijuana Protections Extended through April

Washington, DC: Members of Congress have re-authorized a federal provision prohibiting the Justice Department from interfering in state-authorized medical cannabis programs. The provision, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, was included in short-term spending legislation, House Resolution 2028, and will expire on April 28, 2017.

Initially enacted by Congress in 2014, the amendment maintains that federal funds cannot be used to prevent states from “implementing their own state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.”

In August, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the language bars the federal government from taking legal action against any individual involved in medical marijuana-related activity absent evidence that the defendant is in clear violation of state law.

Because the provision is included as part of a Congressional spending package and does not explicitly amend the US Controlled Substances Act, members must re-authorize the amendment annually. However, House leadership may prohibit federal lawmakers from revisiting the issue when they craft a longer-term funding bill this spring. Such a change in House rules would require members of the Senate to pass an equivalent version of the legislation, which would then need to be approved by House leaders in conference committee.

For more information, please contact Erik Altieri, NORML Executive Director, or Justin Strekal, NORML Political Director, at (202) 483-5500.

Visit NORML online at NORML.org

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