Indopedia All Things Marijuana
All four of these measures were drafted as amendments to the Fiscal Year 2019 budget bill, and Rep. Sessions struck down each and every one.
Three of these amendments would have expanded veterans’ access to medical cannabis, most notably the Veterans Equal Access amendment, which would allow Veterans Affairs doctors to recommend medical cannabis to vets in canna-legal states. The second of these amendments would have prevented the VA department from firing veteran employees who legally consume medical marijuana.
Rep. Sessions also shut down an amendment that would have prevented the VA from stripping a veteran’s benefits away as punishment for medical cannabis use. The fourth of these amendments, unrelated to veterans, would have prevented the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation form enforcing laws denying water rights to state-legal hemp or marijuana cultivators.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who authored the Veterans Equal Access amendment, as well as many other pieces of pro-cannabis legislation, criticized Sessions’ interference.
“All they want is fair and equal treatment, and the ability to consult with their own physician on all treatment options. By blocking this vote, Chairman Sessions has turned his back on our wounded warriors, commonsense, and the will of the American people. He should be ashamed.”
Rep. Sessions has a long history of blocking cannabis-related legislation that appears before the House Rules Committee. A joint committee of both chambers will reconcile the two versions of the budget bill once they each individually approve it, but the committee has a history of stripping out any amendments relating to veterans and cannabis.
