VA Survey of Cannabis Use Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2676 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to conduct surveys to measure cannabis use by veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2019 Mr. MOULTON (for himself, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. SOTO, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. CRIST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to conduct surveys to measure can- nabis use by veterans, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Survey of Cannabis 4 Use Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SURVEY ON CANNABIS USE BY VETERANS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 7 shall seek to enter into an agreement with a federally 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2676.IH H2676 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2676 IH funded research and development center to conduct sur- 1 veys nationwide to measure cannabis use by veterans. 2 (b) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select a feder- 3 ally funded research and development center under sub- 4 section (a) from among such centers that have— 5 (1) expertise and a record of independent, peer- 6 reviewed publications with respect to— 7 (A) behavioral health research; and 8 (B) conducting independent evaluations of 9 mental health programs using multidisciplinary 10 methods; and 11 (2) an in-depth knowledge of all State medicinal 12 marijuana programs and the ability to tailor the sur- 13 veys under subsection (a) accordingly. 14 (c) CONDUCT OF SURVEYS.—The surveys conducted 15 under subsection (a) shall meet the following criteria: 16 (1) One survey shall collect information from 17 veterans who use cannabis, including both veterans 18 enrolled in the health care system established under 19 section 1705(a) of title 38, United States Code, and 20 veterans who are not so enrolled. 21 (2) One survey shall collect information from 22 health care providers of the Department of Veterans 23 Affairs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2676.IH H2676 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2676 IH (3) Each survey shall be conducted in a manner 1 that ensures the anonymity of the individual being 2 surveyed. 3 (d) MATTERS SURVEYED.— 4 (1) VETERANS.—The survey described in sub- 5 section (c)(1) shall cover the following subjects: 6 (A) The current medicinal cannabis use by 7 the veteran, or the intent or desire by the vet- 8 eran to use medicinal cannabis, and the reasons 9 for such use, intent, or desire. 10 (B) The conditions, symptoms, or both, 11 that the veteran uses cannabis to treat. 12 (C) The types of cannabis and cannabis 13 products used by the veteran, including with re- 14 spect to— 15 (i) tetrahydrocannabinol or cannabidi- 16 ol content; 17 (ii) indica, sativa, mixes, or hybrids; 18 and 19 (iii) flower, oils, hash or kief, con- 20 centrates (wax, shatter, budder), edibles, 21 drinks, tinctures, and topical ointments. 22 (D) Other medications taken by the vet- 23 eran concurrently with cannabis and any medi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2676.IH H2676 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2676 IH cations the veteran stopped using because of 1 the use of cannabis. 2 (E) How the veteran is self-administering 3 medicinal cannabis, including— 4 (i) the method; 5 (ii) the typical times each day the vet- 6 eran self-administers; 7 (iii) the frequency of different prod- 8 ucts per day and for what condition, symp- 9 tom, or both; and 10 (iv) the amounts per product. 11 (F) The ratings and descriptions of the ef- 12 fectiveness of using cannabis to treat condi- 13 tions, symptoms, or both. 14 (G) Any experiences with side effects. 15 (H) The number of different cannabis 16 products tried before settling on the current 17 product. 18 (I) The typical source of medical cannabis 19 (such as a single dispensary, multiple dispensa- 20 ries, mail order, or other source), the typical 21 purchase frequency, and the typical amount 22 purchased. 23 (J) The sources of information the veteran 24 uses for products and dosages. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2676.IH H2676 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2676 IH (K) Factors that influence the choice of 1 the veteran for using a chosen product (such as 2 with respect to the levels of tetrahydrocannabi- 3 nol or cannabidiol content, cost, availability, 4 consistency, or strain). 5 (L) Any other matters determined appro- 6 priate. 7 (2) HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS.—The survey de- 8 scribed in subsection (c)(2) shall cover the following 9 subjects: 10 (A) A description of the experience of the 11 health care provider with respect to patients 12 using medicinal cannabis. 13 (B) A description by the health care pro- 14 vider of how medicinal cannabis is changing pa- 15 tients. 16 (C) A description of how treatment plans 17 have been modified after a veteran discloses 18 using cannabis. 19 (D) Any documentation of the products, 20 dosages, or frequency of such cannabis use in 21 the medical records of the veteran. 22 (E) Reporting of adverse events. 23 (F) The sources of information used by the 24 health care provider with respect to cannabis 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2676.IH H2676 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2676 IH products and the medical effectiveness of can- 1 nabis. 2 (G) Any other matters determined appro- 3 priate. 4 (e) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 5 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 6 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 7 the House of Representatives a report on the results of 8 the surveys conducted under this section. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2676.IH H2676 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS