WHEREAS, over the past several years, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have been thrust into the forefront of the medical community and general public in large part due to suicides and over medication of veterans; and WHEREAS, medical cannabis is legal in 29 states and the District of Columbia, with more states pending legalization legislation; and WHEREAS, Department of Veterans Affairs cannot legally prescribe cannabis products as long as the federal government continues to categorize it as a Schedule 1 drug; and WHEREAS, states that have legalized medical cannabis have seen a 15-35 percent decrease in opioid overdose and abuse; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have recently introduced legislation which would allow VA doctors to discuss the use of medical cannabis with veteran patients to treat service-connected disabilities; and WHEREAS, there is substantial evidence from a comprehensive study by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academic Press that concludes cannabinoids are effective for treating chronic pain, chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, sleep disturbances related to obstructive sleep apnea, multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms, and fibromyalgia; and WHEREAS, multiple states that have legalized marijuana have used state funding to research the effective use of medicinal marijuana for PTSD and other health care issues; and WHEREAS, in April 2016, the Drug Enforcement Agency gave its approval to a study on the effect of medical marijuana on post-traumatic stress disorder, the first federally funded, randomized, controlled research in the U.S. for PTSD; therefore BE IT RESOLVED, by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States that we support federally funded research of Medical Cannabis for veterans being treated by Department of Veterans Affairs. Submitted by Department of Wisconsin
To Committee on VETERANS SERVICE RESOLUTIONS APPROVED AS AMENDED by the 118th National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States: https://www.vfw.org/-/media/VFWSite/Files/MY_VFW/118th-Proposed-By-Law-MOP-Ritual-Scheduled-Resolutions.pdf?la=en