Dana Rohrabacher: “I am very happy to hear my good friend from Texas supporting the other legislation that we have that leaves it up to the…”

“I am very happy to hear my good friend from Texas supporting the other legislation that we have that leaves it up to the States to make sure that they can declare marijuana legal or illegal. I am very happy to have you on board. I rise in strong support today, however, of the Blumenauer-Farr- Rohrabacher-Polis amendment to the MilCon-VA Appropriations bill, which would essentially remove an unreasonable barrier that prevents VA physicians from recommending that our veterans have the benefit of State medical marijuana programs. The idea that VA physicians, totally legitimate doctors who treat veterans and their illnesses, cannot recommend marijuana--or, by the way, any other drug to their patients--and to treat things especially when they are going to recommend a drug that might be used in treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder, this is extremely troubling. Our veterans have benefited from using medical cannabis to treat PTSD and other ailments, so why are we denying our veterans the ability to access something through their health care provider that is available to the general public through access to their providers? The fact that our veterans cannot receive recommendations from VA physicians means that they are forced to go outside the VA system just to get a simple recommendation on a drug.…”