Ottawa places three-gram daily limit on medical pot it covers for veterans
VANCOUVER — The federal government is drastically cutting the amount of medical cannabis for which veterans will be reimbursed after years of skyrocketing costs and concerns about overuse.
The announcement prompted panic and anger from some veterans who say the new limit of three grams a day will put former soldiers at greater risk of opioid addiction and suicide.
Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr said Tuesday he was shocked to learn that the previous Conservative government began reimbursing veterans for medical cannabis without a policy.
“Frankly, how we’re here nine years later … was a shocking abrogation by the former government, and a series of successive ministers who just played the role of the ostrich and buried their heads in the sand,” he said.