Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, along with Drug Policy Alliance board member Jason Flom, castigated the U.S. Veterans Health Administration this week for recently telling its doctors they could not recommend medical marijuana to patients who had served the country.

” … The VA's stance on medical marijuana is counterproductive and harmful,” the duo writes at Huffington Post. “The ban means that–despite their service to our country–veterans who reside in the 14 states that have legalized medical marijuana are denied the same rights as every other resident of these states.”

The pair suggests that pot might be the safest drug for treating victims of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. They joined a chorus of pro-medical marijuana advocates that have urged “the VA to stand up to the DEA's harassment of veterans and remove the apparent gag order on its doctors.”

Los Angeles is home to one of the nation's largest VA service centers, including the West Los Angeles Healthcare Center.

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