The House Rules Committee, led by prohibitionist Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX), blocked multiple amendments related to marijuana from receiving consideration by the full House, thus ending their consideration and silencing the ability for the lower chamber to offer either legal protections or expanded access to veterans who use cannabis for therapeutic purposes.
Marijuana-related arrests in Virginia increased over 20 percent between the years 2016 and 2017, according to crime data compiled by the State Police. Overall, some 70 percent of all drug arrests in Virginia in 2017 were marijuana related.
Over six in ten Americans believe that it is morally permissible for adults to use cannabis, regardless of the plant’s legal status, according to nationwide polling data compiled by Gallup.
More than two-thirds of chronic pain patients registered to legally access medical cannabis products substitute marijuana for prescription opioids, according to data published in The Journal of Headache and Pain Among those patients diagnosed specifically with headache/migraine, cannabis was frequently reported as a substitute for other medications – including opiates (43 percent), anti-depressants (39 percent), NSAIDS (21 percent), triptans (8 percent), and anti-convulsants (8 percent).