VA Asks Congress To Amend Medical Marijuana Bill For Veterans While Opposing Psychedelics Measure At Hearing [Video]

A congressional committee met on Thursday to take up a series of bills, including two GOP-led veterans-focused measures concerning medical marijuana and psychedelics. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is supporting the cannabis legislation if it undergoes “extensive amendments,” and it opposes the psychedelics measure, describing it as “unnecessary.”

The House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee—which made history last November by holding a first-ever congressional hearing focused on psychedelics-assisted therapy for veterans—also heard from a number of veterans service organizations (VSOs) that are advocating for the reforms.

One of the bills that was on the agenda, sponsored by the subcommittee chair Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), is titled the Veterans Cannabis Analysis, Research, and Effectiveness (CARE) Act.

It would require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to “conduct and support research relating to the efficacy and safety of forms of cannabis” for chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and “other conditions the Secretary determines appropriate.”

“For years we’ve heard anecdotal firsthand accounts from veterans who have experienced decreased PTSD symptoms and pain through …