{"id":20198,"date":"2024-07-19T16:45:27","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T20:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=20198"},"modified":"2024-08-06T16:46:47","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T20:46:47","slug":"merkley-senators-urge-va-to-expand-access-to-medical-cannabis-for-americas-veterans-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-senators-urge-va-to-expand-access-to-medical-cannabis-for-americas-veterans-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkley y los senadores instan al Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos a ampliar el acceso al cannabis medicinal para los veteranos estadounidenses."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Skanner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today led his colleagues\u2014including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV)\u2014in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Denis McDonough urging the agency to swiftly expand access to medical cannabis treatment options for veterans who live in states that have state-legal medical cannabis programs. The Senators called for the agency to produce a VA-approved standard of care for medical cannabis and issue clear guidelines for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) providers regarding the benefits of and potential access to state-legal medical cannabis programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMillions of Americans, including millions of veterans, live in states that have legalized the use of medical cannabis,\u201d wrote the Senators. \u201c[This increases] the likelihood that veterans seeking care through the VHA are considering, or already utilizing, medical cannabis treatments. Yet, given cannabis\u2019 current placement in Schedule I, veterans living in any of these states or territories currently lack parity with their non-veteran counterparts. Veterans must instead seek a new, trusted medical system and provider outside of the VA to have a productive conversation about the benefits of, and potential access to, medical cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2024<\/a>, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) took historic action and recommended that cannabis be rescheduled from Schedule I — the most restrictive schedule reserved for dangerous drugs without any medical use — to Schedule III — a less restrictive schedule that would recognize the medical benefits of cannabis. This has the potential to open up treatment options for people across the United States, including veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe DEA\u2019s recommendation to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III also has the potential to decrease the prescription and use of more dangerous pain relief methods,\u201d the Senators continued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cStudies have shown that cannabis has significantly fewer addictive properties and is much less likely to result in dependency than other forms of pain relief, such as opioids.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

They concluded, \u201cWe strongly urge the VA to recognize the established benefits of medical cannabis and to fulfill its duty to our nation\u2019s heroes by ensuring the best quality of care through VHA. This must include facilitating legal access to medical cannabis for veterans by developing a VA-approved standard of care and issuing clear guidance allowing and preparing VHA providers to discuss, recommend, and assist patients in qualifying for enrollment in state-legal medical cannabis programs following cannabis\u2019 official rescheduling. Our nation\u2019s heroes deserve access to all federally-legal treatment options to meet their healthcare needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full text of the letter can be found by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Skanner Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today led his colleagues\u2014including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV)\u2014in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Denis McDonough urging the agency to swiftly expand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMerkley, Senators Urge VA to Expand Access to Medical Cannabis for America\u2019s Veterans - Merkley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-senators-urge-va-to-expand-access-to-medical-cannabis-for-americas-veterans-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Merkley, Senators Urge VA to Expand Access to Medical Cannabis for America\u2019s Veterans - 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