Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access (VMCA), which was founded as Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access (VMMA) reflecting the pejorative word "

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

", is an

Elliston, Virginia Elliston is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. It lies between the city of Roanoke and the town of Christiansburg in the southwestern part of the state. The population as of the 2010 Census was 902. ...

-based non-profit service organization designed to assist American

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

who wish to be able to use marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. VMCA works towards the freedom for veterans to discuss the medical use of marijuana with their doctors without the risk of reprisal.

Activity in the United States

When it was created in 2007, Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access was the first American veteran

service organization A service club or service organization is a voluntary nonprofit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined firstl ...

designed to assist veterans with medical access to cannabis. Since then, VCMA has been

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

and

advocating Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

both at the federal level (

Veterans Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

) and at the State-level, to geographically and qualitatively increase access to medical cannabis and derivates for US military veterans. The organization seeks to make sure that the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

allows veterans access to medicines their doctor prescribes or recommends, and broaden the right to access and the affordability of medicines.

Activity at international level

During the first decade of the 21st century, VMCA increased its presence and advocacy close to the relevant international institutions, in particular on policy issues at the

Commission on Narcotic Drugs The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is one of the functional commissions of the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and is the central drug policy-making body within the United Nations System. The CND also has important man ...

meetings, and close to the

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the ...

and the

International Narcotics Control Board The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent treaty body, one of the four treaty-mandated bodies under international drug control law (alongside the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, UNODC on behalf of the Secretary-General, an ...

. VMCA is also following the process of scientific review of cannabis by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

towards a change in the scheduling of the substance at international level. VCMA has developed close collaborations with major European NGOs such as DrugScience, the

European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies The European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (''ENCOD''), originally ''European NGO Council On Drugs and development'', is a network of European non-governmental organisations and citizens concerned with the impact of current inte ...

or the

FAAAT think & do tank For Alternative Approaches to Addiction, Think & do tank (FAAAT or FAAAT think & do tank) is an international non-profit organization working on drug policy, created in 2015 and based in Paris, France. The organization focuses on research and a ...

. VCMA Executive Director Michael Krawitz has been named Senior Adviser of FAAAT, with which he has developed an active advocacy and research in relation with the

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book ''Horton Hear ...

review of Cannabis for international scheduling. In 2015 in Prague, VMCA was involved in the creation of the IMCPC (International Medical Cannabis Patients' Coalition). Since 2017, VCMA collaborates in the

United Nations Office in Vienna The United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) is one of the four major office sites of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The office complex is located in Vienna, the capital of Austria, and is part of the ...

to the organization of the Legal Regulations Fora, series of civil society events aimed at spreading ground-up proposals that aim to impact national decision-makers gathered in these meetings.

References

* * * * * *

External links

* {{Portal bar, Cannabis, Medicine, Virginia 2007 in cannabis American veterans' organizations Cannabis law reform organizations based in the United States Cannabis and the United States military Medicinal use of cannabis organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in the United States Organizations based in Virginia Organizations established in 2007

Activity in the United States

Activity at international level

See also

References

External links