The U.S. House of Representatives is set to consider amendments to a spending bill this week that would authorize U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical marijuana recommendations to military veterans and support psychedelics research and access.

The House Rules Committee on Monday made the cannabis and psychedelics amendments in order for floor consideration for possible attachment to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilConVA) appropriations legislation.

One of the proposals from Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL) and Dave Joyce (R-OH)—who are both co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus—would increase veterans’ access to state medical marijuana programs and eliminate a current VA directive barring the department’s doctors from issuing cannabis recommendations.

Here’s the text of the amendment: 

“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used to enforce Veterans Health Directive 1315 as it relates to—

(1) the policy stating that ‘VHA providers are prohibited from completing forms or registering Veterans for participation in a State-approved marijuana program’;

(2) the directive for the ‘Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management’ to ensure that ‘medical facility Directors are aware that it is VHA policy for providers to assess Veteran use of marijuana but providers are prohibited from recommending, making referrals to or completing paperwork for Veteran participation in State marijuana programs’; and

(3) the directive for the ‘VA Medical Facility Director’ to ensure that ‘VA facility staff are aware of the following’ ‘[t]he prohibition recommending, making referrals to or completing forms and registering Veterans for participation in State-approved marijuana programs’.”

“I’m not a doctor. I wouldn’t presume to tell people when they should consider cannabis for medical purposes,” Mast said before the Rules Committee on Monday, recounting the long road to recovery from his own war wounds that he suffered in Afghanistan.

“I woke up in a hospital called Walter Reed one day, and I can tell you that when I woke up in that hospital—missing two legs and a finger—I woke up on a laundry list of narcotics and medications, things I had never been on in my life,” he said, adding that he went through a “gamut” of withdrawal symptoms from the opioids he was given.

“The point of this is to say there are alternatives out there,” he said. “I wouldn’t say when those alternatives are appropriate, but I know that it is appropriate if somebody is getting all of their medical health from the Department of Veterans Affairs, that they be able to have that discussion about what they may be considering for their health with that person that is providing their health care.”

“If they can’t trust that they can have at least that discussion with that person providing their health care, then the VA is failing them, because one way or another, they’re going to look into a path that they’re considering. It would be much better if they look into that path under the directive of their doctor. And so that’s what my amendment is about…just making sure that those doctors have the ability to not be prohibited from speaking to those veterans about something that they may be otherwise considering through legal programs in their state.”

The provision is based on a standalone bill, the Veterans Equal Access Act, which Mast refiled in February. That marked one of the latest attempt to enact the measure that’s enjoyed bipartisan support over recent sessions but has yet to become law. It’s advanced several times in committee and on the floor but has yet to be enacted into law.

In past years, both the House and Senate have included provisions in their respective MilConVA measures that would permit VA doctors to make the medical cannabis recommendations, but they have never been enacted into law.

Another MilConVA provision being considered along with the House bill this year, from Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI), would encourage VA to support research into the benefits of psychedelics in treating medical conditions commonly affecting military veterans.

Here’s the summary of the amendment: 

“Increases and decreases funding for the Medical and Prosthetic Research account at the Department of Veterans Affairs to direct the Department to evaluate and make recommendations on changes that would need to be made to its existing healthcare infrastructure to integrate approved psychedelic therapies into veterans’ care options for conditions such as PTSD and substance use disorders. This would include the need for supporting the development and dissemination of training and supervision programs for providers and pilot programs to inform clinical implementation of these therapies.”

“We lose up to 20 veterans a day to suicide. One is too many. Our nation’s veterans continue to suffer tragic rates of suicide and opioid overdose deaths after they return home,” Correa said in a press release. “While the VA has finally begun to study the impact of breakthrough therapies like psychedelics on veterans’ invisible wounds, the time is now to begin preparing for how these therapies will one-day be distributed to ensure the health and safety of our nation’s most valiant warriors.”

“It’s my hope that my colleagues—Democrat and Republican alike—will join us in getting this amendment signed into law and kickstart our work to get our veterans the care they deserve,” he said.

Bergman, who along with Correa is a co-chair of the Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus, added that “after serving our country with honor, many of our warriors return home only to face a different kind of battle.”

“I’ve spent years advocating for solutions to meet Veterans where they actually are, including exploring innovative therapies that show promise for treating the invisible wounds of war,” he said. “We owe it to our Veterans to create more options for help and less hoops to jump through – they shouldn’t come home to a new fight.”

The House on Tuesday approved the rule under which the spending legislation will be considered, but did not begin taking up amendments, which is expected later this week.

There were notably fewer cannabis-related amendments filed for the MilConVA bill this year compared to past sessions, though the Rules Committee has previously rejected several of those other Democratic-led reforms such as blocking cannabis testing for federal job applicants in states that have enacted legalization.

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Meanwhile, on Monday, the House Appropriations Committee approved a separate spending bill containing provisions that hemp stakeholders say would devastate the industry, prohibiting most consumable cannabinoid products that were federally legalized during the first Trump administration.

Also, earlier this month, Congress passed a bill that is primarily focused on permanently banning analogues of fentanyl, though it also contains provisions that one GOP lawmaker said would remove barriers to conducting research into the risks and benefits of marijuana and other Schedule I drugs.

Congressional Committee Approves Federal Hemp THC Ban That Stakeholders Say Would Decimate Industry

“There’s tribes in the state that are wanting to move forward with manufacturing or processing, testing, distribution.”

By Alexander Lekhtman, Filter

A Montana proposal that would have allowed tribal nations to negotiate cannabis regulation individually will not be enacted this session. Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) vetoed the bill on June 19, calling it “unnecessary and duplicative.”

House Bill 952 sought to address cannabis industry barriers that tribes in Montana have faced since 2021, when the state enacted HB 701. That bill limits each tribe’s licensed cannabis operations to a single location, no more than 1,000 square feet and at least 150 miles outside reservation boundaries.

HB 952 would have removed these restrictions and instead authorized each tribe to work out their own regulatory terms with the state, tailored to their own needs. It was modeled after cannabis compacts used by federally recognized Native American tribes in Washington state, according to the Montana Free Press.

“While I appreciate the intentions of the bill sponsor, [regulatory] authority already exists under the State-Tribal Cooperative Agreements Act,” Gianforte stated in a June 20 letter explaining his veto. “I also have serious concerns about the bill’s potential impact on tribal sovereignty and self-determination, as well as the government-to-government relationship between the State of Montana and tribal nations. By channeling negotiations through a new statutory process, House Bill 952 may constrain the scope and flexibility of negotiations, introduce unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and impose State priorities on tribal nations.”

The bill was sponsored by Representative Frank Smith (D), a longtime member of the Montana American Indian Caucus. This was the final legislative session before retirement for Smith, who first took office in 1999.

Montana began sales of adult-use cannabis in 2022. But the industry is divided into a patchwork of “green” counties, which voted in favor of legalization, and “red” counties, which voted against it. Sales in red counties are automatically banned, unless the county decides to opt in.

“There’s tribes in the state that are wanting to move forward with manufacturing or processing, testing, distribution,” Red Medicine LLC Cofounder Patrick Yawakie, who helped draft HB 952, told the Montana Free Press and ICT in a joint interview earlier in 2025. The bill would have ensured “that there’s an opportunity for them or clarity whenever they come to the table with the state to maintain compliance with state regulations.”

Yawakie said during that interview that the bill would also help tribes restrict access to cannabis, among those that wish to do so.

Gianforte has issued 42 vetoes this session, 10 of which are pending override, according to the Montana Free Press; a two-thirds majority is required to undertake that vote. One of the 10 vetoes that could potentially be overturned is for a bill for allocating cannabis tax revenue. As of June 19 the legislature is in the process of conducting the veto-override vote by mail, as the session has adjourned.

Gianforte’s vetoes have been largely budget-related, with steep cuts that he claimed in a June 20 letter are necessary to protect constituents from unnecessary spending.

“The budget I received from the legislature wasn’t as fiscally responsible as the one I proposed,” he wrote. “We have an obligation to be good stewards of taxpayer resources, regardless of whether we are in more promising fiscal times or more challenging fiscal times. Protecting taxpayers requires us to make tough decisions, prioritizing what is necessary over what would be nice to have.”

This article was originally published by Filter, an online magazine covering drug use, drug policy and human rights through a harm reduction lens. Follow Filter on Bluesky, X or Facebook, and sign up for its newsletter.

DEA Judge Sides With Agency On Proposal To Ban Two Psychedelics Despite Challenge From Scientific Researchers

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his agency is “absolutely committed” to expanding research on the benefits of psychedelic therapy and, alongside of the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is aiming to provide legal access to such substances for military veterans “within 12 months.”

He also said that he speaks with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins about psychedelics policy issues “all the time.”

At a hearing before the House Energy & Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) asked Kennedy about plans at HHS to advance psychedelics studies, stressing the need to make the novel therapies available to people with serious mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

“We are launching clinical trials now on that at FDA,” Kennedy said, adding that there are currently “11 clinical trials at the VA going on at this point—particularly for our service members and retired service members.”

“It’s critically important that we make sure that the science on this is solid, and the preliminary results are very, very encouraging and it’s something that we want to pursue,” he said, adding that he’s spoke with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who told him “we don’t want to wait two years to get this done.”

“These are people who badly need some kind of therapy. Nothing else is working for them,” Kennedy said. “This line of therapeutics has tremendous advantage, if given in a clinical setting, and we are working very hard to make sure that that happens within 12 months.”

After Crenshaw brought up the fact that Congress has passed legislation mandating that the Department of Defense (DOD) conduct clinical trials into psychedelics for active duty military veterans, the health secretary also noted that he’s “brought on personnel to liaison directly with VA,” and that he speaks with Collins about it “all the time.”

“It’s something that both of us are deeply interested in,” he said.

To that end, Collins also disclosed in April that he had an “eye-opening” talk with Kennedy about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. And he said he’s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.

Collins also recently visited a facility conducting research on psychedelics, and he reiterated that it’s his “promise” to advance research into the therapeutic potential of the substances—even if that might take certain policy changes within the department and with congressional support.

The secretary’s visit to the psychedelics research center came about a month after the VA secretary met with a military veteran who’s become an advocate for psilocybin access to discuss the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine for the veteran community.

Collins also briefly raised the issue in a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump in April.

Meanwhile last month, bipartisan congressional lawmakers asked the VA head to meet with them to discuss ways to provide access to psychedelic medicine for military veterans.

In a letter sent to Collins, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—said they were “encouraged by your recent remarks about the importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other alternative treatments to improve Veterans’ care.”

Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill in April to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.

Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to tackle such complex issues.

Kennedy, for his part, also said in April that he had a “wonderful experience” with LSD at 15 years old, which he took because he thought he’d be able to see dinosaurs, as portrayed in a comic book he was a fan of.

Last October, Kennedy specifically criticized FDA under the prior administration over the agency’s “suppression of psychedelics” and a laundry list of other issues that he said amounted to a “war on public health” that would end under the Trump administration.

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Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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In December, VA separately announced that it’s providing $1.5 million in funding to study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Last year, VA’s Yehuda also touted an initial study the agency funded that produced “stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.

In January, former VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said that it was “very encouraging” that Trump’s pick to have Kennedy lead HHS has supported psychedelics reform. And he hoped to work with him on the issue if he stayed on for the next administration, but that didn’t pan out.

DEA Judge Sides With Agency On Proposal To Ban Two Psychedelics Despite Challenge From Scientific Researchers