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Law Cannabis for Veterans

Pentagon Quietly Moves to Make CBD Use a Criminal Offense for Troops

U.S. troops can now be punished for using products that contain hemp or cannabidiol, according to a Defense Department memo recently made public.

In February, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Matthew Donovan directed the services to issue general orders or regulations by March 1 prohibiting the use of products made from hemp under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Donovan's memo, dated Feb. 26, was highlighted Monday in a tweet by the DoD's Operation Supplement Safety, an initiative within the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences that provides information to service members on dietary supplements.

Troops have known since last year that most products containing cannabidiol, or CBD, were off-limits, with two of the four DoD services issuing guidance restricting use of any form of CBD, including in supplements, creams, ointments and tinctures.


But the new orders make use of hemp and CBD punitive across all DoD active-duty and reserve component personnel, including the Navy and Marine Corps, whose members were allowed under the Department of the Navy to use topical products like shampoo, lotions and creams.

Donovan said the move was needed to "protect the integrity of the drug testing program."

"I specifically find a military necessity to require a prohibition of this scope to ensure the military drug testing program continues to be able to identify the use of marijuana, which is prohibited, and to spare the U.S. military the risks and adverse effects marijuana use has on the mission readiness of individual service members and military units," he wrote.

The federal government removed hemp from its list of controlled substances under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. By law, hemp that contains less than .3% THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) is legal.

Since hemp's legalization, the market for CBD, derived from the hemp plant, has exploded into a $1 billion industry in the U.S., with products touted to help nearly every ache and ailment, from pain and stress to mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Although products containing CBD and less than .3% THC are legal in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration does not certify the ingredients of dietary supplements, and in an unregulated market, such products may contain levels of THC that may cause service members to pop positive on a drug test.

Since troops can't determine exactly what they are getting in any CBD product and the DoD can't practically maintain a list of approved hemp products, all products must be off-limits, Donovan said.

If a service member is found to have used a CBD product, it would be punishable under Article 92 of the UCMJ. Exceptions include use by authorized personnel in the performance of medical duties, those who ingest or use hemp and weren't aware that what they were consuming contained hemp or CBD, and those taking it "pursuant to legitimate law enforcement duties," according to the memo.

The order also does not apply to those taking FDA-approved medications that contain CBD or synthetic cannabis, including Epidiolex, Marinol and Syndros.

The Air Force and Army have had policies since last year that made use of any CBD product punishable under Article 92.

The Navy's policy restricted ingestible CBD or other hemp products but allowed Marines and sailors to use topical goods.

But according to a Navy official, additional guidance is in the works to align the service's policy with the memo to apply to all sailors and Marines.

The Coast Guard's policy restricts ingestion of hemp oil or products made from hemp seed oil but does not include food items that contain hemp ingredients.

A Coast Guard spokeswoman said Tuesday that the service's policy to allow food items containing hemp remains in effect. The service falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security and not the DoD.

Lt. Brittany Panetta added that marijuana and other THC products remain prohibited under federal law, and Coast Guard men and women are not allowed to participate in any event that celebrates cannabis or enter any establishment that sells or promotes such products.

"The Coast Guard does not foresee any change to our clear and firm prohibition on the use of any cannabis-based products by Coast Guard members/employees. In order to protect themselves from potential violations of law and policy, members must make deliberate choices of their behaviors and, if in doubt, err on the side of caution," Panetta said.
 
Pentagon Quietly Moves to Make CBD Use a Criminal Offense for Troops

U.S. troops can now be punished for using products that contain hemp or cannabidiol, according to a Defense Department memo recently made public.

In February, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Matthew Donovan directed the services to issue general orders or regulations by March 1 prohibiting the use of products made from hemp under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Donovan's memo, dated Feb. 26, was highlighted Monday in a tweet by the DoD's Operation Supplement Safety, an initiative within the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences that provides information to service members on dietary supplements.

Troops have known since last year that most products containing cannabidiol, or CBD, were off-limits, with two of the four DoD services issuing guidance restricting use of any form of CBD, including in supplements, creams, ointments and tinctures.


But the new orders make use of hemp and CBD punitive across all DoD active-duty and reserve component personnel, including the Navy and Marine Corps, whose members were allowed under the Department of the Navy to use topical products like shampoo, lotions and creams.

Donovan said the move was needed to "protect the integrity of the drug testing program."

"I specifically find a military necessity to require a prohibition of this scope to ensure the military drug testing program continues to be able to identify the use of marijuana, which is prohibited, and to spare the U.S. military the risks and adverse effects marijuana use has on the mission readiness of individual service members and military units," he wrote.

The federal government removed hemp from its list of controlled substances under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. By law, hemp that contains less than .3% THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) is legal.

Since hemp's legalization, the market for CBD, derived from the hemp plant, has exploded into a $1 billion industry in the U.S., with products touted to help nearly every ache and ailment, from pain and stress to mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Although products containing CBD and less than .3% THC are legal in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration does not certify the ingredients of dietary supplements, and in an unregulated market, such products may contain levels of THC that may cause service members to pop positive on a drug test.

Since troops can't determine exactly what they are getting in any CBD product and the DoD can't practically maintain a list of approved hemp products, all products must be off-limits, Donovan said.

If a service member is found to have used a CBD product, it would be punishable under Article 92 of the UCMJ. Exceptions include use by authorized personnel in the performance of medical duties, those who ingest or use hemp and weren't aware that what they were consuming contained hemp or CBD, and those taking it "pursuant to legitimate law enforcement duties," according to the memo.

The order also does not apply to those taking FDA-approved medications that contain CBD or synthetic cannabis, including Epidiolex, Marinol and Syndros.

The Air Force and Army have had policies since last year that made use of any CBD product punishable under Article 92.

The Navy's policy restricted ingestible CBD or other hemp products but allowed Marines and sailors to use topical goods.

But according to a Navy official, additional guidance is in the works to align the service's policy with the memo to apply to all sailors and Marines.

The Coast Guard's policy restricts ingestion of hemp oil or products made from hemp seed oil but does not include food items that contain hemp ingredients.

A Coast Guard spokeswoman said Tuesday that the service's policy to allow food items containing hemp remains in effect. The service falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security and not the DoD.

Lt. Brittany Panetta added that marijuana and other THC products remain prohibited under federal law, and Coast Guard men and women are not allowed to participate in any event that celebrates cannabis or enter any establishment that sells or promotes such products.

"The Coast Guard does not foresee any change to our clear and firm prohibition on the use of any cannabis-based products by Coast Guard members/employees. In order to protect themselves from potential violations of law and policy, members must make deliberate choices of their behaviors and, if in doubt, err on the side of caution," Panetta said.
Don’t understand the logic?
 
Pentagon Quietly Moves to Make CBD Use a Criminal Offense for Troops

U.S. troops can now be punished for using products that contain hemp or cannabidiol, according to a Defense Department memo recently made public.

In February, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Matthew Donovan directed the services to issue general orders or regulations by March 1 prohibiting the use of products made from hemp under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Donovan's memo, dated Feb. 26, was highlighted Monday in a tweet by the DoD's Operation Supplement Safety, an initiative within the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences that provides information to service members on dietary supplements.

Troops have known since last year that most products containing cannabidiol, or CBD, were off-limits, with two of the four DoD services issuing guidance restricting use of any form of CBD, including in supplements, creams, ointments and tinctures.


But the new orders make use of hemp and CBD punitive across all DoD active-duty and reserve component personnel, including the Navy and Marine Corps, whose members were allowed under the Department of the Navy to use topical products like shampoo, lotions and creams.

Donovan said the move was needed to "protect the integrity of the drug testing program."

"I specifically find a military necessity to require a prohibition of this scope to ensure the military drug testing program continues to be able to identify the use of marijuana, which is prohibited, and to spare the U.S. military the risks and adverse effects marijuana use has on the mission readiness of individual service members and military units," he wrote.

The federal government removed hemp from its list of controlled substances under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. By law, hemp that contains less than .3% THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) is legal.

Since hemp's legalization, the market for CBD, derived from the hemp plant, has exploded into a $1 billion industry in the U.S., with products touted to help nearly every ache and ailment, from pain and stress to mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Although products containing CBD and less than .3% THC are legal in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration does not certify the ingredients of dietary supplements, and in an unregulated market, such products may contain levels of THC that may cause service members to pop positive on a drug test.

Since troops can't determine exactly what they are getting in any CBD product and the DoD can't practically maintain a list of approved hemp products, all products must be off-limits, Donovan said.

If a service member is found to have used a CBD product, it would be punishable under Article 92 of the UCMJ. Exceptions include use by authorized personnel in the performance of medical duties, those who ingest or use hemp and weren't aware that what they were consuming contained hemp or CBD, and those taking it "pursuant to legitimate law enforcement duties," according to the memo.

The order also does not apply to those taking FDA-approved medications that contain CBD or synthetic cannabis, including Epidiolex, Marinol and Syndros.

The Air Force and Army have had policies since last year that made use of any CBD product punishable under Article 92.

The Navy's policy restricted ingestible CBD or other hemp products but allowed Marines and sailors to use topical goods.

But according to a Navy official, additional guidance is in the works to align the service's policy with the memo to apply to all sailors and Marines.

The Coast Guard's policy restricts ingestion of hemp oil or products made from hemp seed oil but does not include food items that contain hemp ingredients.

A Coast Guard spokeswoman said Tuesday that the service's policy to allow food items containing hemp remains in effect. The service falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security and not the DoD.

Lt. Brittany Panetta added that marijuana and other THC products remain prohibited under federal law, and Coast Guard men and women are not allowed to participate in any event that celebrates cannabis or enter any establishment that sells or promotes such products.

"The Coast Guard does not foresee any change to our clear and firm prohibition on the use of any cannabis-based products by Coast Guard members/employees. In order to protect themselves from potential violations of law and policy, members must make deliberate choices of their behaviors and, if in doubt, err on the side of caution," Panetta said.
I was in the USAF. They are worried about the impact on readiness from MJ. Meanwhile, at least when I was in the service, members drank like fishes and booze was VERY cheap at on-base stores. But that's not a problem at all. sigh
 
I was in the USAF. They are worried about the impact on readiness from MJ. Meanwhile, at least when I was in the service, members drank like fishes and booze was VERY cheap at on-base stores. But that's not a problem at all. sigh
When I was a surf hippie stoner dude the Air Force looked for grow’s of marijuana?
California grass grown tall & super cropping to hide our COLAS while surfing warm water wave’s.
GRUNT training after NAM?
F-19 or whatever they were flew overhead!
HELICOPTERS were low flyers.
 
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This article is misleading, or the journalist knows nothing about the legislative process and may be living in his/her parents basement, but getting an amendment into a House bill that has not passed the Senate, not gone thru reconciliation of any differences, and not yet signed by the President is not the same as having the legislation go into effect and have the force of law.

As far as I am aware, the NDAA has not passed and been signed.


Congress Allows Troops To Use CBD Products


As of Monday, military service members are no longer forbidden to use CBD products.

According to Marijuana Moment, the House of Representatives approved a measure that allows troops to use hemp products as well as its derivatives.
The measure passed by a vote of 336 to 71. The initiative was led by Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is also a military veteran.
It specifies that Secretary of Defense may not prohibit ”the possession, use, or consumption” of hemp or hemp-derived product to a “member of the Armed Forces” as long as the crop meets federal standards.

In addition, the possession, use, and consumption of such products must be “in compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local law.”
The measure is a part of a package of dozen other non-cannabis amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Gabbard, who suspended her presidential campaign for the 2020 U.S. Presidential elections in March, has advocated for the hemp industry.
Last year, Gabbard introduced the legislation, dubbed “Hemp for Victory Act.”

The bill was designed to mandate research into a wide range of ways the use of hemp can be implemented in everyday life.

Meanwhile, last month, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) partnered with the University of North Carolina to study psychedelics.
The research is focused on creating “new medications to effectively and rapidly treat depression, anxiety, and substance abuse without major side effects.”
 

Bill Promoting Research On Marijuana’s Benefits For Military Veterans Will Be Considered By House Committee Next Week


A bill to promote research into the therapeutic benefits of marijuana for military veterans will receive a hearing in Congress next week.

The House Veterans Affairs’ Subcommittee on Health will take up Rep. Lou Correa’s (D-CA) legislation, titled the VA Cannabis Research Act. It would mandate that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launch a series of clinical trials on medical marijuana for PTSD and chronic pain.

While VA representatives have previously expressed opposition to earlier versions of this legislation—as well as other cannabis- and veterans-related bills—advocates are hopeful that the Biden administration will ultimately back the incremental reform this time around.

Correa said last week at a House Judiciary Committee meeting—where members approved a federal marijuana legalization bill—that he’d spoken earlier in the day with VA Secretary Denis McDonough “to discuss this specific issue of cannabis is a refers to veterans.”

“California was the first state in the union to legalize cannabis way back in 1996,” the congressman said. “So far we know cannabis is good for seizures, glaucoma, chronic pain, PTSD and god knows what are the [other] things it’s good for. But we won’t know until we do the medical research, and we cannot do medical research until cannabis is declassified at the federal level.”



Correa also separately proposed requiring the VA cannabis studies as an amendment to a defense spending bill that passed the House late last month. But he withdrew it prior to a House Rules Committee hearing.

What remains to be seen is where VA will come down on the measure during next week’s subcommittee meeting.

A Senate committee in June held a hearing on a bill to similarly require the department to conduct clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of marijuana for military veterans with PTSD and chronic pain—but a VA representative said that the Biden administration is opposed to the reform.

Last year, the full House Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved the VA Medical Cannabis Research Act, as well as a separate proposal to allow VA doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations to their patients in states where it’s legal, but they did not advance to the floor.

During the last Congress, in 2019, the VA under President Donald Trump came out against a series of bills that were designed to protect benefits for veterans who use marijuana, allow the department’s doctors to recommend medical cannabis and expand research into the plant’s therapeutic potential.

In 2018, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee was the first congressional panel to approve a marijuana reform bill by passing an earlier version of legislation to encourage VA to conduct research on the medical benefits of cannabis.

Despite VA’s stated opposition to a variety of marijuana reform proposals in the past, an official with the department did say recently that it is “very closely” following research into the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics like MDMA for military veterans.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan coalition of congressional lawmakers reintroduced bills that would federally legalize medical cannabis for military veterans.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) in January introduced a proposal aimed at ensuring that military veterans aren’t penalized for using medical cannabis in compliance with state law. It would also codify that VA doctors are allowed to discuss the risks and benefits of marijuana with their patients.

VA doctors are currently permitted to discuss cannabis with patients and document their usage in medical records, and those veteran patients are already shielded by agency policy from losing their benefits for marijuana use—but the bill would enshrine those policies into federal statute so they could not be administratively changed in the future.

A U.S. military veteran who was deported to Jamaica over a marijuana conviction was recently allowed to return to the country following a concerted push for relief by members of Congress.

Sens. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in July requesting that he reopen the case.

Thirty members of the Congressional Black Caucus separately urged the Biden administration to reopen certain deportation cases, including those involving cannabis such as Bailey’s.

Meanwhile, congressional leaders are working to end federal marijuana prohibition altogether.

Besides Nadler’s legalization bill that passed the House Judiciary Committee last week, Senate leaders are also finalizing reform legislation that they first previewed in July.
 

Marijuana Helps Treat PTSD Symptoms But Federal Policy Impedes Science, VA Researcher Says


People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who use marijuana experience fewer symptoms and recover more quickly compared to people who don’t use cannabis, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs researcher said in a new podcast posted by the agency.

Hal Wortzel, a VA forensic neuropsychiatrist, talked about the findings of an observational study he conducted during the recent interview. He also discussed how the ongoing federal prohibition on marijuana has impeded essential research.

To learn how cannabis impacts PTSD, Wortzel’s team tracked two groups over the course of several years: 75 people with the condition who said they use marijuana and 75 people with PTSD who don’t consume cannabis. While there are limits to observational—rather than experimental—studies, he said the results provide further evidence that marijuana seems to have therapeutic benefits for certain populations.



Specifically, people who said they use marijuana reported fewer “hyper arousal” symptoms—things like anxiously checking over one’s shoulder or overreacting to loud sounds.

“Among persons using marijuana for PTSD, relative to the group that was not using marijuana, we saw those folks using marijuana products get a little bit better more quickly, and they were about two and a half times more likely over the course of the study year to no longer meet criteria for PTSD than those folks who were not using marijuana products,” Wortzel said.

“That was a finding that appears to be predominantly driven by what we call the hyper arousal symptoms of PTSD,” he said. “Those sorts of symptoms appear to be most responsive to marijuana, at least in this investigation.”

Wortzel also told the podcast—which is produced by VA’s Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center—that there should be a greater investment in controlled, experimental studies on marijuana’s health impacts, but federal prohibition has impeded research.

“In the world of cannabis, because marijuana and marijuana products are still technically federally illegal, to do those kinds of experimental studies, you have to use basically the marijuana product that’s been developed by the United States government for that purpose, which, of course, is not the the product that the vast majority of Americans are utilizing or purchasing in dispensaries like here in Colorado,” he said.

Many researchers—including the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)—have complained about the fact that scientists are currently dependent on cannabis grown from a single, federally authorized source at the University of Mississippi, with products that do not reflect what’s available in commercial markets.

It’s one of several marijuana research barrier identified in a report that NIDA recently submitted to Congress.

Because Wortzel’s study was observational and didn’t require the administration of marijuana in a controlled, clinical setting, however, its findings are unique in that participants using cannabis were obtaining it outside of the government’s garden.

While the research found that the cannabis group did improve more quickly compared to the non-user group, it surprisingly didn’t find that marijuana was associated with better sleep or other “functional outcomes and activity levels.” That’s despite the fact that, anecdotally, many people report improved sleep with cannabis.

The study author said they felt looking at those factors was “really important because symptoms matter—I mean, PTSD symptoms are unpleasant and a source of suffering for lots of people—but at the end of the day, in addition to sort of alleviating symptoms, we want to see people getting back into life, engaging in work or other sort of activities that are just as important for our overall well-being and emotional health.”

While congressional lawmakers are working to advance legislation to end marijuana prohibition, VA officials have resisted even modest proposals meant to promote veteran access and clinical research into the medical value of cannabis.

One such research bill was approved by the House Veterans Affairs Committee last month, despite testimony from the department opposing the reform. VA’s David Carroll told lawmakers that the legislation was overly prescriptive and argued that the department is already conducting robust research into marijuana.

Some had held out hope that the department would back the reform this session after the sponsor, Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), said that he’d had a conversation with VA Secretary Denis McDonough about the issue of marijuana and veterans.

Meanwhile, a VA official said in September that the department is “very closely” following research into the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics like MDMA for military veterans with PTSD.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) recently attempted to insert into defense legislation an amendment to require the Department of Defense to conduct a clinical trial into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics for military members with chronic pain and PTSD. But it was blocked from receiving a floor vote by the House Rules Committee.

Crenshaw, a veteran himself, also recently moderated a conversation with a top psychedelics reform advocate. The congressman said that a veteran’s account of psychedelics therapy with MDMA “sounds amazing.”

During joint hearings before House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees in March, three veterans service organizations submitted written testimony backing a policy change to expand access to or increase research on medical cannabis, and one argued in favor of loosening restrictions to enable veterans to utilize psychedelics in their mental health treatment.

A federal commission tasked with developing recommendations to improve mental health treatment for military veterans determined in a report early last year that Congress and the executive branch should promote research into the therapeutic potential of marijuana and psychedelics such as psilocybin mushrooms and MDMA.

Separately, a bipartisan coalition of congressional lawmakers said in a recent letter to McDonough that the department must urgently institute a policy change to ensure that military veterans can access cannabis for therapeutic use.

The letter comes weeks after McDonough participated in a Veterans Day Q&A where he said that VA officials are “looking at” the possibility of an internal policy change and have discussed it with the White House and Department of Justice. The secretary also talked about being personally moved by stories from veterans who’ve found relief using medical marijuana.
 
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