Florida Senator Gary Farmer, a Democrat from Broward County, is pushing for elimination of the $75 annual fee for medical marijuana identification cards for veterans. He believes current regulations are underserving this key group of state residents.
In a meeting with the state Senate’s health care appropriations committee, Farmer expressed his frustration over the fact that Florida’s 1.5 million vets have to pay for the right to receive legal medical treatment.
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The state senator reminded the committee of the many costs that veterans must absorb in the state’s medical system, including fees for doctor visits and treatment costs, adding:
“So many of our veterans are just struggling so much and I think many of them, frankly, aren’t even aware that this alternative treatment is there.”1
Florida officials hope to broaden access to the state’s medical marijuana program. In February, a circuit judge in Leon County formally reprimanded state legislators and health officials for a cap on cannabis dispensaries that she said:
“erects barriers that needlessly increase patients’ costs, risks, and inconvenience, delay access to products, and reduce patients’ practical choice, information, privacy, and safety.”1
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Farmer’s recent remarks highlight the fact that veteran access to cannabis is no insignificant issue. Studies confirm that US veterans are far more likely to seek medical cannabis treatment than the general population. This finding supports the widening of patient access to the federally restricted drug.
Veterans’ are more likely to suffer from chronic pain and many of the other health conditions that have been shown to significantly improve when treated with cannabis.
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The US Department of Veterans Affairs states that between 11 and 20 percent of Iraq War veterans suffer from PTSD, which studies suggest may be eased by the use of cannabis.
Even though some veterans were the first in line to buy marijuana when their state legalized the drug, for many cannabis access is hampered. In Missouri, veteran health officials recently explained that given federal prohibition, veterans receiving VA care are at risk of losing their benefits entirely. Last year in Washington, a bipartisan duo of congresspeople sponsored legislation that supported veterans seeking access to cannabis.
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Farmer also noted that veterans might not seek highly addictive and destructive opioid pain medications if their access to medical cannabis is expanded.
Robert Wilkie, The White House’s Secretary of Veteran Affairs, has said that veterans are twice as likely to die from a drug overdose involving an opioid. The nation’s military health system has devoted efforts in recent years to combat the issue.
Clearly, our veterans need easy and affordable access to medical cannabis.
Source:
- High Times
- Orlando Weekly
