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The denial of housing loans by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to veterans of the military because of his work in the marijuana industry, which is legal, is prompting Congress to take action .

On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee included a report in a report attached to a VA funding bill of 2020 asking for clarification on the issue:

"Audit of Mortgage Income" – The Committee is aware of the Department's refusal to provide veterans with real estate loan guarantees solely on the basis of the veteran's documented income from state-sanctioned cannabis activities. The Committee is concerned that the Department has never publicly stated its position on this issue, which affects the ability of veterans to fully understand and examine how employment decisions might affect future eligibility for benefits earned. The Committee therefore directs VA to publicly clarify its position on this matter no later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act. "

Separately, representatives Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Julia Brownley (D-CA), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs for Health, also distribute a congressional opening letter to VA on the subject.

"Recently, a veteran said that his application for a VA home loan guarantee had been denied because of his employment in a legal cannabis industry. The VA stated that the Department considered that the veteran's source of income was not sufficiently "stable and reliable" for the purposes of mortgage applications, "wrote the legislator in a cover message requesting signatures of other members of Congress for the letter of VA.

"Because the VA thinks this income can be confiscated or seized under federal law, it will not deem it appropriate for a VA loan," Clark and Brownley told their colleagues in the note obtained by Marijuana Moment. "The VA also explained that if VA employees would accept this income for the purpose of applying for a loan, they could technically be sued by the GM for money laundering."

The draft letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, similar to the wording of the Appropriations Bill, asks the VA to clarify its position on the issue.

"A vast majority of US states have legalized cannabis for medical and / or recreational purposes in one form or another, giving rise to a legal industry generating up to $ 11 billion in sales annually and generating more than a billion dollars in excise tax revenue collected by the state, and supports the livelihoods of more than 211,000 Americans, "says the letter to the secretary. "A significant number of veterans make their living in this industry and, in the years to come, that number should increase further."

"The VA must recognize this reality and ensure that veterans who work in this sector are able to fully understand and have equitable access to the benefits they have gained."

"The ambiguity in which the cannabis industry operates is unique, and we fully understand the resulting aversion to the legal and financial risks of VA," says the draft letter to Wilkie. "Denying veterans the benefits they have earned, however, goes against Congress's stated intention to create its benefit programs."

Although VA provided advice on some related issues, including stating that veterans would not lose their benefits for cannabis use alone and that departmental doctors could discuss marijuana use with patients without as much to make a formal recommendation regarding medical cannabis. There is nothing written about the housing loan qualifications for veterans working in the marijuana market, at least not publicly.

"Yet, the VA has not issued any policy or directive on this subject, leaving veterans no way to understand clearly and easily whether their choice of legal employment in this industry could result in the denial of benefits." that they have won, "writes the letter. said.

"We ask that you respond within the next 30 days detailing the department's position on loan guarantees and, where possible, also specifying whether a veteran's eligibility for another benefit Specific AV is compromised solely because of its use. in a legal cannabis industry in a given state. We also ask that you include in your response the assurance that you will begin the process of developing guidelines to publicly clarify the VA's position on this issue. "

In addition, the House Credits Committee Report attached to the VA Funding Bill also includes a section asking the VA to explain its efforts to conduct research on the therapeutic benefits of marijuana for former fighters:

"Cannabis research. – The Committee recognizes that it is essential to continue to focus on the discovery of alternative treatments for veterans with various conditions, such as chronic pain and PTSD, to reduce the number of suicides veterans. For this reason, the 2019 law approving appropriations for military construction and veterans' service (Legislation, Water, Water, Legislation) from 120 to 244, urged VA to use funds to invest primarily in research on the effectiveness and safety of the use of cannabis in veterans for medical purposes and submit a report to the Committee no later than 180 days after the adoption of this law. The report has not yet been submitted to the Committee. Accordingly, the Panel directs VA to provide an update of the status of this outstanding report no later than 15 days after it is filed. "

A similar report was included in a report of the same committee last year, but VA apparently did not comply with the previous request to send a report to Congress on the issue.

Issues related to veterans and cannabis were at the center of the 116th Congress, with three related pieces of legislation being considered at a Veterans Affairs subcommittee hearing in the House in April. Two of these bills were due to be voted on by the committee on Wednesday, but were removed from the agenda after the chair decided to hold a hearing forthcoming, specifically focused on marijuana proposals.

The Trump administration opposes marijuana bills for medical purposes for veterans

Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.