The American Legion salutes medical marijuana, asks feds to allow VA doctors to openly discuss the plant’s curative effects.
On Thursday, the nation’s largest veterans group adopted a resolution urging the Trump Administration to allow physicians at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to openly discuss and recommend medicinal cannabis in states where it’s legal.
Passed during the American Legion’s annual national convention, held this year in Reno, Nevada, the resolution was initially authored and pushed by Rob Ryan of Blue Ash, Ohio.
And, according to Stars & Stripes, the American Legion “has also requested meetings with Trump with the intention to ask him to change his administration’s policy on cannabis.”
A potential game changer for U.S. vets, the American Legion represents more than 2 million veterans nationally.
This is not the American Legion’s first request
- At their 2016 convention, the American Legion supported the advancement of medical marijuana research with the introduction of resolution number 11.
- In May, the American Legion rolled out their continuing support for veterans having access to medical marijuana by lobbying the Trump administration to reclassify cannabis.
Instructed by a 2011 federal directive, the VA currently prohibits any “providers from completing forms seeking recommendations or opinions regarding a Veteran’s participation in a State marijuana program.” The obsolete and out-of-date edict remains in full effect, eight months after having expired.
Nonpartisan and not-for-profit, the American Legion wields considerable political influence, thanks to its grassroots efforts in the legislation process. With a bipartisan “vets first policy,” the American Legion stands not behind divisive politics, but in support of the issues and people who cultivate institutional progress for veterans’ rights and their quality of life.
