VA Ignores Cannabis Research Despite Pleas from Veterans, Lawmakers
Legislation to support VA research into cannabis treatment efficacy has passed the House — will it stall a third time?
In a recent article by Politico, it was revealed that the VA continues to ‘deny cannabis recommendations to veterans.’ The article chronicles the story of 42-year-old Jason Dunlap, a veteran seeking cannabis to treat PTSD, insomnia, and chronic pain who ultimately had to turn to YouTube to learn about methods on how to use it safely because of his concerns regarding disclosure of his cannabis use to his physician.
As a patient with a doctor’s recommendation, I can confirm that it is difficult to get exact dosages, strains, etc. — and for veterans, who also have to face a host of challenges regarding social anxiety and re-integration, navigating such a difficult web places them more at risk.
Over the last several years as I’ve written about cannabis, I’ve been able to have a front row seat to see just how much misinformation and disinformation exist in the space. It is scary to consider how many patients have their health hanging in the balance while the United States continues its racist war on drugs.
The VA will not continue the research it needs in order to fully support cannabis, and when questioned on its policies, it points to the Department of Justice policy that cannabis is a Schedule 1 drug. This leaves millions of Americans, including veterans, in limbo. Politicians continue to hide behind the fact that there isn’t enough research confirming the efficacy of cannabis, while simultaneously pocketing cannabis’ contributions.
On Thursday, the House Veteran’s Affairs Committee voted to pass Rep. Lou Correa’s VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act, but a similar bill has passed the house twice before without being enacted into law. Correa found that the law was necessary after frustrations working with the VA on their cannabis research. “The VA keeps saying, ‘We have the authority, we don’t need you to micromanage us.’ But we do — because they’re not doing their job,” Correa said.
The bill passed despite VA departmental reluctance to support it, but it faces a long road to being enacted as a law (and its failure to do so in 2018 and 2020 leaves us all hoping that the third time is the charm).
The US withdraw from Afghanistan has been a preciptating factor in trying to speed up the legislative process, as the war has left millions of veterans seeking treatment for PTSD and chronic pain that doesn’t involve addictive substances such as opioids.
Rep. Correa stated, “In my role, I met and worked with veterans struggling with their invisible wounds of war, they explained to me that they didn’t like being prescribed opioids and other medications. They wanted to be able to access cannabis to ease their pain without the same side effects or addictive properties of opioids. When I came to Congress, I wanted to continue my work to provide our veterans with the treatments they want.”
The VA maintains that legislation such as the bill proposed by Correa and passed by the House circumvents the scientific standards of the VA, as well as introduces redundancies and risk into their policies. David Carroll, representing the VA in his testimony, stated that the bill was “not consistent with the current state of scientific evidence, which suggests that smaller, early phase, controlled clinical trials with a focused set of specific aims are optimal to determine proof of concept for using cannabis to treat specific conditions.” Carroll’s complaint is not unfounded, as Correa’s legislation attempts to outlays specific requirements for research (including the number of strains to be tested, etc.) which would impact the scientific efficacy of the studies.
While the VA’s stance against supporting the usage of cannabis is consistent with overall departmental behavior, it dashes hopes that Biden’s VA would look on cannabis more favorably. This isn’t shocking for political analysts, given how Democrats have paid lip service to cannabis while largely abandoning meaningful pushes for legalization. This is disappointing for organizations such as the VFW and the Paralyzed Veterans of America, all of whom are hoping for legislators and the VA to listen to their constituents.
Representatives for the Paralyzed Veterans for America stated, “A series of clinical trials on the use of medicinal cannabis would help to determine if it could provide any medical benefits for veterans.”
Meanwhile, veterans hoping to use cannabis to alleviate their suffering continue to turn to online information sources such as YouTube (and I sincerely hope my terpene series) in order to understand how to best use cannabis. To ensure your congress person knows how important cannabis is for veterans, you can use the new Cannabis in Common website to perform research on their stances and contact them. Stories like this emphasize how it is more important than ever that we federally legalize cannabis.
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