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Letting VA Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana To Veterans Won’t Cost Anything, Congressional Analysts Say

Letting VA Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana To Veterans Won’t Cost Anything, Congressional Analysts Say
Screen Shot 2020 03 26 at 11.53.11 AM 1024x646 1
A bill that would allow doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recommend medical marijuana to military veterans would have zero fiscal impact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said on Wednesday. Two weeks after the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved the Veterans Equal Access Act, sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), CBO released its score of the legislation. The office estimates that there would be no additional expenses associated with allowing VA doctors to issue cannabis recommendations. That’s largely because VA doctors already “discuss various treatment options with their patients in the course of providing health care” and so including conversations about filling out medical cannabis recommendation paperwork would not be a significant departure from current policy. “Additionally, VA encourages physicians to discuss marijuana use with patients who participate in state-approved marijuana programs,” the agency said. “Thus, CBO estimates that providing information on medical marijuana would not increase VA’s costs to provide health care to veterans.” Another bill the committee approved at the same hearing earlier this month would require VA to conduct clinical trials exploring the therapeutic potential of cannabis in the treatment of conditions that commonly afflict veterans such as chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. That legislation would presumably involve some additional costs to VA, though CBO has yet to score it. It’s not clear when the full House will get to vote on either bill, but advocates expect it to pass when it arrives on the floor. Similar provisions in annual spending bills…

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Source : MJ moment
Link to original : Letting VA Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana To Veterans Won’t Cost Anything, Congressional Analysts Say
reposted by Cannabis News World

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