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Bipartisan congressional lawmakers introduced a bill to direct the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out studies on the therapeutic potential of marijuana for military veterans with certain conditions.
An earlier Senate version of the VA medical cannabis legislation cleared a committee in that chamber and was taken up on the floor for action but was blocked from advancing by Republicans.
Under the proposal as reintroduced for the current Congress on Thursday by Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI), VA would be tasked with conducting studies that explore the effects of cannabis for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain.
“With the opioid crisis raging across America, it is imperative to the health and safety of our veterans that we find alternative treatments for chronic pain and service-related injuries,” Correa said in a press release. “Throughout my district, I consistently meet veterans who depend on cannabis to manage their pain. Numerous veterans attest to the treatment benefits of medical cannabis. It’s time the VA did a formal study and began recognizing that cannabis can play a safe role in our veterans’ healthcare.”
Bergman said that “veterans struggling with PTSD and chronic pain deserve access to treatments backed by sound science and rigorous research.”
“The VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act will help us better understand whether medicinal cannabis can provide safe and effective relief while ensuring Veterans’ health and safety remain the top priority,” he said. “We owe it to our veterans to explore every responsible avenue that could improve their quality of life.”
A change to the version of the bill that was filed last Congress as compared to initial iterations, which has also carried over to the new measure, would give VA greater latitude in determining for itself whether it’s capable of overseeing clinical trials into marijuana for chronic pain and PTSD.
That appeared to be responsive to concerns expressed by VA officials who testified against the earlier proposals.
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A previous version of the legislation cleared a House committee in 2021, despite the protests of VA officials. Earlier iterations of the measure also moved through committee in 2020 and 2018 as well, but none were enacted into law.
The current legislation includes a requirement for a retroactive observation study to look into the experiences of veterans who’ve used marijuana for such treatment in the past outside of the clinical trail context.
Within 90 days of completion of an observational study on the effects of cannabis on PTSD and chronic pain, VA would be required to submit a report to Congress on whether it’s capable of carrying out the more robust clinical trials that were at the center of earlier forms of the legislation.
“The Secretary may terminate the clinical trials…if the Secretary determines that the Department of Veterans Affairs is unable to meet clinical guideline requirements necessary to conduct such trials or the clinical trials would create excessive risk to participant,” the bill text says.
VA has repeatedly come out against past versions of the reform proposal, with the department suggesting that the research mandate goes too far with too many requirements. Under the current language, the department could finish the qualitative observational study and then independently decide against carrying out the clinical trial portion involving human subjects.
Other revisions in the most recent prior version that carried over to the current measure as compared to those filed in past years include removing language that required studies to involve at least seven cannabis varieties and instead leaving that open-ended.
“The VFW supports the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act,” Pat Murray, director of national legislative service for Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), said. “VFW members tell us that medicinal cannabis has helped them cope with chronic pain and other service-connected health conditions. They cannot receive these services at VA because of VA’s bureaucratic hurdles.
“VA uses evidence-based clinical guidelines to manage other pharmacological treatments of post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, and substance use disorder because medical trials have found them effective,” Murray said. “VA must expand research on the efficacy of non-traditional medical therapies, such as medicinal cannabis and other holistic approaches.”
Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), said that the group’s members “have said consistently and passionately that cannabis offers real help with the most pressing injuries we face when we come home, from chronic pain to PTSD to traumatic brain injury.”
“Our national policies are lagging, research is lacking, and the stigma persists,” Hunter said, “The VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act is how we start to change that. Every solution begins with research, and veterans have waited long enough for it.”
Kyle Jaeger is Marijuana Moment’s Sacramento-based managing editor. He’s covered drug policy for more than a decade—specializing in state and federal marijuana and psychedelics issues at publications that also include High Times, VICE and attn. In 2022, Jaeger was named Benzinga’s Cannabis Policy Reporter of the Year.
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