Doctors with the Veterans Administration may soon be able to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans. Republican Senator Steve Daines asked the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs today to consider medical marijuana as a treatment option.

If a veteran want's to meet with a doctor to discuss medical marijuana, currently they would have to pay out of pocket to see a doctor outside of the VA system. The reason is because the VA's policy currently prohibits its doctors from discussing marijuana with patients. However, that policy expires at the end of this month.

If the VA then adopts a new medical marijuana policy, veterans would be able to get their hands on marijuana products for their chronic pain, glaucoma, nausea and other qualifying conditions.

"There's a lot of people that go through the VA that can benefit from this and out of their own pocket, this way the VA would help pay some of their doctor bills in having to see the doctor," said Rick Whatman, owner of Around the Clock Cannabis.

However, the owner of a cannabis dispensary is not the only one who thinks this could be beneficial. Senator Steve Daines is one of 21 law makers to write the veteran affairs secretary, asking for a change in policy.

In a written statement Senator Daines says, "Veterans shouldn't be discriminated against just because they're seeking the care they deserve at VA facilities."

However, not everyone agrees with Senator Daines. The founder of SAFEMontana says marijuana, as it stands now, is not safe.

"The problem with medical marijuana in general is it’s not supervised by anybody here in the state of Montana so that would be putting the veterans at risk in my opinion. It would just be opening up a big can of worms," said Steve Zabawa, founder of SAFEMontana.

While veterans would save money by not having to go to a doctor outside of their VA health plan, they would still have to pay out of pocket for the cannabis products.

The Montana Department of Public Health reports there are more than 12,000 medical marijuana patients in Montana.