Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1488734
33 legislation focus cannapatientcare.com november/december 2022 | cannabis patient care He said that there are "lots of moving parts," but one piece that is solid is how much support there is. "In terms of medi- cal cannabis, the public support is like the Fourth of July. It's just overwhelming. And I've had numerous conversations as we come into the homestretch here, post-election, lame duck, where the support is as strong if not stronger than ever," he said. "The research is there to back it up. And I think that this is finally an idea whose time has come." The Mast Influence Blumenauer confirmed the significance of Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL) (10) signing on as co-sponsor of his bill. Mast is a dis- abled Afghanistan conflict veteran. "Congressman Mast is a very eloquent spokesperson. He's living testimony," Blumenauer said. "And this illustrates the broad bipartisan support (for the bill). This was never a partisan issue. I appreciate his engagement." Blumenauer said that he has been working on the bill for years and always had Republican interests. "We've worked hard with the Cannabis Caucus, working to make sure that there was engagement with people across the aisle. We've reached a point now where surveys show not only is there an over- whelming support in the general public, but now we've reached the point where a majority of Republicans support it," he said. "We've had some problems in the past with Republican Senate leadership. That has been problematic. But this Senate lead- ership now is probably behind cannabis reform. And we have strong Republican voices that care about this and I think this is the month that we get it across the finish line." Blumenauer recalled one discussion session at the Port- land Veterans Administration Hospital, where they were talk- ing about policies. "I was very clear that I supported chang- ing the regulations so that the VA doctors know the veterans can consult with them," he said. "And as I was leaving, one of the staff members of the PVA came up to me and whispered, 'This is really important. Thank you,'" he said. "This bill is so overdue. Ultimately, we're going to get it but I think this is the month that it might all come together." He talked about another one of his bills, which was recently signed by Biden—H.R. 8454, the "Medical Marijuana and Canna- bidiol Research Expansion Act" (11). That bill establishes a new registration process for conducting research on marijuana, and for manufacturing marijuana products for research purpos- es and drug development. "I was very excited that that piece of legislation that I have been working on forever, which is the re- search legislation, was signed by the President," he said. "This research element is going to be very, very important. Every workday in America, we have tens of thousands of people who fail an employment drug test. And again, nobody wants to have anybody who's impaired on the job, with any equipment or an- ything else. But it's not a function of their being impaired. It's a function of not having a good test, so this legislation I think is going to clear the way for that." The Biden administration has done the most to legalize medical marijuana of any previous administration. In Octo- ber 2022, President Biden announced three steps he was go- ing to take to legalize cannabis, including pardoning of all pri- or Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana; urging all state governors to do the same about state possession of- fenses; and asking the Secretary of Health and Human Ser- vices and the Attorney General to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law and work toward rescheduling or desched- uling it (12). "Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It's time that we right these wrongs," President Biden wrote in a statement released by the White House announcing the steps to legalization (12). Can veterans get medical marijuana through the VA? • Currently, VA doctors cannot provide or recommend medical marijuana for veterans as the federal status for cannabis remains a Schedule 1 substance, making the drug illegal in the federal government's eyes. • Because of this, veterans should never bring any type of marijuana into a VA facility, even when provided through a state -sanctioned medical marijuana program. • However, veterans participating in a state- sanctioned medical marijuana program will not be denied VA benefits, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA providers are able to discuss cannabis use with veteran patients and adjust care and treatment plans as needed. • Veterans are encouraged to discuss medical marijuana use with their VA providers as part of their confidential medical record. • The VA will not pay for medical marijuana prescriptions from any source, nor will VA providers complete paperwork or forms required for a veteran to participate in a state -approved medical marijuana program. • However, anecdotal feedback from veterans shows that VA's directives and actual patient experiences sometimes differ in cases where a prescribed medical marijuana user walks into a federal (VA) facility. Source: Disabled Veterans website, https://www. dav.org/veterans/resources/medical-cannabis/