Unfortunately, one specific VA policy “prohibit[s] VA providers from completing forms seeking recommendations or opinions regarding a Veteran’s participation in a State [cannabis] program.” This policy certainly discourages truthfulness in doctor-patient disclosures and as a consequence makes VA doctors’ jobs more difficult. At best the policy seems obtuse and at worst negligent because it specifically bars caregivers from providing veteran patients with safer alternatives and more effective treatment regimes.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment and research may provide the best context from which to view the VA’s anachronistic policies for what they are. Many veterans report that medical cannabis significantly reduces the effects of PTSD. Awkwardly, the VA does not believe that medical cannabis is effective in treating PTSD, or worded differently, the VA refuses to believe the veracity of its’ patients testimonials. Furthermore, the VA does not conduct research into cannabis’ effectiveness because it is a schedule I drug. And the government has only recently allowed medical cannabis research for PTSD but the poor quality of cannabis combined with internal frictions hampered the groundbreaking project.
Fortunately, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) introduced the Veterans Equal Access Act which directs the VA to “authorize VA health care providers to: (1) provide veterans with recommendations and opinions regarding participation in their state's [cannabis] programs, and (2) complete forms reflecting such recommendations and opinions.” This is a step in the right direction but does not ultimately address the underlying issue that prevents medical research in the first place – cannabis’ schedule I classification. That heavy lifting has been left to the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act of 2017.