Largest veterans group urges Trump, VA to allow medical marijuana


America’s largest group of war veterans are pushing for safe, legal access to cannabis for medical use. The American Legion, which represents 2.3 million members, voted on Thursday in favor of urging the Trump administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow patients to discuss medical marijuana and receive recommendations from VA doctors, reports Vice News. U.S. veterans tend to suffer from numerous medical conditions that could possibly be relieved through using marijuana, including post-traumatic stress, chronic pain, and opioid addiction. VA doctors are currently not permitted to discuss marijuana as a treatment for their patients, although reversing the decision would not mark a change to any federal law. “We are all about going after any evidence-based therapy that makes the lives of our veterans better,” Joe Plenzler, the American Legion’s director of media relations, told Vice. “There’s pretty significant evidence that it works better than placebo in several diseases.” The American Legion has built a short history of advocating for medical marijuana legalization, which includes pressuring Congress last year to federally legalize pot, followed by a letter sent to Donald Trump in May asking him to “clear the way for clinical research in the cutting-edge areas of cannabinoid receptor research.” Smell The Truth is one of the internet’s most popular destinations for cannabis-related news and culture. This blog is not written or edited by SFGate or the San Francisco Chronicle. The authors are solely responsible for the content.
Oscar Pascual