Jump to content

Va Bill Fails In The House; With Vote Stats At End Of Article.


slipstar059

Recommended Posts

Doctors at Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals are not allowed to talk about medical marijuana with patients. A bill was introduced that would have lifted that ban. The bill came up for a vote this week, and sadly, it was defeated by just three votes. Below are reactions from Tom Angell from the Marijuana Majority and United States Representative Earl Blumenauer:

 

“While it’s disappointing that the House just voted to continue a senseless rules that prevents doctors from treating military veterans with a medicine proven to work for a number of serious conditions, the fact that we came so close is a good sign of things to come. It is no longer considered politically risky for elected officials to work on scaling back the failed federal war on marijuana, as the 210 ‘yea’ votes we just saw demonstrates. This is just the first in what will be a series of important marijuana votes in Congress this year, and we expect to win more than we lose, just like we did last year.” said Tom Angell.

And a press release from Earl Blumenauer:

 

Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) released the following statement on last night’s narrow defeat of his Equal Access Amendment to the FY 2016 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which would make it easier for qualified veterans to access medical marijuana.

 

“Last night, the House of Representatives narrowly defeated my proposal, which would have allowed veterans to consult with VA doctors about medical marijuana in states where medical marijuana is legal. While the defeat was frustrating, it demonstrated support in the first vote on marijuana policy in this Congress.

“We were able to make the case publicly to members and their staff about the inequity of a situation where 213 million Americans live in states where they have access to medical marijuana, yet veterans are denied the ability to be helped by their VA primary care provider. Forcing them, at their own expense and trouble, to find somebody else who doesn’t have the same doctor-patient relationship with them for their medical needs is not only not fair, but it’s not best medical practice.

 

“While opponents provided false information that medical marijuana has no therapeutic value, we were able to drive home the point that the current system, which denies veterans medical marijuana but overprescribes them highly addictive and dangerous opioids, is the real scandal.

 

“These arguments carried the day for 210 of my colleagues, which was 15 more than last year, even with eight members absent and not voting, several of whom are sympathetic to the bill. There were 13 more Republicans this year voting yes, and there were 10 fewer Democrats voting no.

 

“All in all, this is an extraordinarily strong showing. This year’s much closer vote signals that we are in an excellent position to be able to pass simple, commonsense legislation to deal with the realities of the legal business of marijuana across the country – including legislation to allow state-legal marijuana businesses to deduct business expenses and to no longer have to operate on a cash-only basis.”

-Story from the Weed Blog-

 

Here are the stat's as they stand.

 

96% of Democrats voted yes for this bill.

14% of Republicans also voted yes.

 

These are the Republican candidates, that voted yes on the bill.

 

Justin Amash (R-MI), Dan Benisheck (R-MI), Rod Blum (R-IA), John Boehner (R-OH, SotH), Ken Buck (R-CO), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Mike Coffman (R-CO), Chris Collins (R-NY), Ryan Costello (R-PA), Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Chris Gibson (R-NY), Richard Hanna (R-NY), Joe Heck (R-NV), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Walter Jones (R-NC), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Mia Love (R-UT), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Scott Perry (R-PA), Bruce Poliquin (R-ME), Tom Reed (R-NY), Tom Rice (R-SC), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Tom Rooney (R-FL), Mark Sanford (R-SC), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Steve Stivers (R-OH), Fred Upton (R-MI), Don Young (R-AK), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), and Ryan Zinke (R-MT).

 

Michigan had 3 ® representatives who voted in favor; Upton, Amash, and Benisheck

 

We also had 1 (D) from our state vote no on the bill; Sander Levin (D-MI),

Edited by slipstar059
Link to comment
Share on other sites

with all the nasty stories and treatment of vets then and now I'm surprised men and woman have lined up voluntarily

for service for over 50 years.

I suspect the government has found themselves in a real pickle between adamantly sticking to their lies of cannabis having NO medical value, and jailing millions of civilians to try to prove it. Now, what say you Uncle Sam ?   I think if they asked for help we would indeed help them ease out of their conundrum and satisfy every concern.

Edited by grassmatch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fifty years ago I tried to teach Fred Upton to swim well enough to contribute to the high-dollar CC swim team I coached as part of my $70/week lifeguard job.

 

Failed miserably; young Fred was the least coordinated and athletically inclined kid you could imagine.

 

I have talked to him once briefly a few years ago and sent him several letters about MJ and his cousin's troubles with substance abuse.

 

Maybe my efforts didn't amount to much but I still take a bit of encouragement from his continued support for rationalization of MJ policies.

 

And while some understandably blame the Republicans, Prohibitionist Democrats like Carl and Sander Levin are the true disgrace.

Edited by outsideinthecold
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And while some understandably blame the Republicans, Prohibitionist Democrats like Carl and Sander Levin are the true disgrace.

 

I remember years ago at a town hall meeting Sander Levin was debating some war measure with the members of the audience. The group who attended was 98% against the proposal.

 

Levin's response was, "Well, I see your point but I'm voting for it anyway."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...