WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation today to allow doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans in the 31 states where medical marijuana is legal - including in Florida.
The bill would create a temporary, five-year safe harbor protection for veterans who use medical marijuana and would direct the VA to conduct research on the effects of medical marijuana on veterans who suffer from pain and how prescribing marijuana to veterans can be used to reduce opioid abuse.
Veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to die from opioid overdose.
“Federal law prohibits VA doctors from prescribing or recommending medical marijuana to veterans,” Nelson noted. “This legislation will allow veterans in Florida and elsewhere the same access to legitimately prescribed medication, just as any other patient in those 31 states would have.”