On Thursday, a Florida House subcommittee voted to advance a bill on medical marijuana that would waive registration and renewal fees for veterans with disabilities. The measure was approved by Rep. Susan L. Valdes on a vote of 14-1.
Valdes stated that medical cannabis showed promise in relieving symptoms common to military veterans. These include managing chronic pain, alleviating PTSD effects, improving sleep, and reducing opioid dependency. This bill will remove the financial barriers veterans face in accessing medical cannabis, their preferred healthcare solution.
The state’s medical cannabis program currently charges $75 per year to keep your registration.
Members of the House Healthcare Regulation Subcommittee adopted an amendment by Valdes before moving the bill. This amended the measure so that it only applies to veterans who are “service-disabled”, and not veterans in general. Patients would have to submit a DD214 form (military discharge papers) with their application for a marijuana ID card.
NORML Tallahassee, the Florida Cannabis Action Network and other groups and advocates have all endorsed this measure.
Rep. Kimberly Berfield, (R) the lawmaker who cast one no vote during the hearing did not explain why she was opposed.
The Florida panel took its action on Thursday after it approved a separate measure HB 1269 that would set THC limitations for adult-use cannabis products in advance of a ballot initiative that could go before voters in November.
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Veterans have been an important group of advocates for legal medical marijuana access, at both the state and federal level. Veterans groups in December urged President Joe Biden to complete the ongoing review of marijuana’s schedule status in a timely manner, and to take steps to “counteract” misinformation as he pursued broader reform.
Congressmen are pushing for provisions to be kept in a massive federal spending bill which would permit VA doctors to give medical marijuana recommendations to veterans who live in states that have legalized the drug .
This reform would achieve the exact same policy result as a stand-alone bill, which was re-filed in March on the House side by the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Brian Mast.
The Veterans Equal Access Act was presented several times over the past few years, with bipartisan support. has moved through committees and been approved on the floor a number times but has not yet been enacted. Blumenauer is retiring after this Congress and has prioritized the modest reform even though he’s been pushing for broader legalization.
In August, congressional members of both parties expressed “deep concern” about a recently revised VA marijuana directive which continues to prevent its doctors from making recommendations for medical cannabis to veterans who live in states where the drug is legal.
The decision to continue the “harmful” policy on cannabis recommendations was deemed “alarming”, especially in light of the latest VA clinical guidance for PTSD which strongly discourages the use of medical cannabis as a form treatment.
In November of this year, Congress held the first ever hearing on psychedelic therapy for veterans .
A law passed by Florida Gov. Last summer, Ron DeSantis introduced new restrictions on medical marijuana manufacturing and advertising. This included prohibiting products or messages which promote “recreational cannabis use” while also adding stricter eligibility requirements for industry workers.
In June, the Governor approved a bill that explicitly prohibited sober living homes from allowing their residents to possess or to use medical marijuana. This is true even if a patient has been certified by a physician to use cannabis legally therapeutically according to state law. All other pharmaceuticals prescribed by doctors may still be allowed.
In July , he signed legislation prohibiting the sale of any consumable products — including cannabis “chewing-gum” — to people under 21. This was an extension of an existing ban on young people having access to smokable weed.
DeSantis has stated that he opposes broader legalization but he believes activists will succeed in getting their ballot measure on the November ballot. He said earlier this month that supporters will likely defeat a Supreme Court challenge by the attorney general who is trying to block the vote.
The governor, at his last presidential campaign event in New Hampshire said: “I think that the court will approve that so it’ll be listed on the ballot.”
A Florida Republican Senator introduced a bill to the Florida legislature in December that would allow medical cannabis businesses licensed to do business to claim state tax deductions, which they cannot claim at the federal level due to an Internal Revenue Service code (IRS) known as 280E.
The article Florida Lawmakers Approve Proposal to Eliminate Medical Marijuana Fees for Veterans first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
