U.S. Sen.
Jeff Merkley wants veterans to receive access to medical cannabis through Veterans Affairs clinics or hospitals. Merkley, D-Oregon, led a left-leaning Independent and seven other Democratic senators, including Oregon’s U.S.
Sen. Ron Wyden, in sending a letter late last week to U.S.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough, urging him to quickly provide access to medical cannabis treatment for veterans in states that have legalized its use. Medical cannabis is legal in nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia, but the federal government has not changed it alongside that trend. The letter follows a similar plea in June spearheaded by another Democratic Oregon congressional member, Rep.
Earl Blumenauer, co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. Oregon is home to 250,000 veterans and many rely on U.S.
Department of Veterans Administration providers in outpatient clinics in urban and rural communities and in VA hospitals in Portland and Roseburg. But a VA directive bars providers from recommending the use of medical marijuana or making referrals for its use. It even prevents providers from completing forms for state-authorized medical marijuana.
But medical cannabis advocates are hopeful the VA will loosen these restrictions following a May proposal by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
It recommended that cannabis be rescheduled from Schedule 1 – the most restrictive listing possible for dangerous drugs with no recognized medical use – to Sch.