Medical Marijuana Update

The Veterans Administration secretary hints at openness to medical marijuana for PTSD, Arkansas regulators are ready to accept applications, Florida lawmakers are ready to move forward on implementing the will of the voters, and more.

[image:1 align:left]National

Last Wednesday, the VA secretary said he’s open to medical marijuana for PTSD. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said he is open to expanding the use of medical marijuana to treat soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder in states where it is legal. There may be some evidence that this is beginning to be helpful and we’re interested in looking at that and learning from that,” Shulkin said during a press conference. “Right now, federal law does not prevent us at VA to look at that as an option for veterans… I believe that everything that could help veterans should be debated by Congress and by medical experts and we will implement that law.”

Arkansas

On Tuesday, tstate regulators finalized the process for medical marijuana applications. The state Medical Marijuana Commission finalized the process for accepting applications for medical marijuana growers and sellers. The move comes after the commission developed a more detailed scoring system for ranking applicants. The application period will open June 30 and go on for 90 days. The commission will distribute 32 dispensary licenses and five cultivation facility licenses.

Florida

Last Friday, the governor vetoed medical marijuana research projects. Gov. Rick Scott (R) used his line-item veto power to kill three line items that would have provided more than $3 million dollars to the Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of Florida for medical marijuana research. In his veto message, Scott wrote that the institutions had plenty of money to fund the research on their own.

On Wednesday, lawmakers reached agreement on implementing medical marijuana. Lawmakers came to agreement on how to implement the state’s voter-approved medical law. Under the agreement, 10 new growers will be licensed this year, with five licenses going to previous applicants, five going to new applicants, and at least one reserved for a black farmer. The state current licenses only seven commercial grows. The agreement also caps the number of dispensaries each grower can operate at 25.

Oregon

Last Friday, a bill to let medical growers sell limited amounts on the recreational market advanced. A bill that seeks to reshape the state’s medical marijuana program so it can coexist with legal recreational marijuana is advancing. House Bill 2198, which would let medical growers sell up to 20 pounds in the recreational market in a bid to stay viable, passed the Joint Committee on Marijuana Regulation last Friday and is now before Joint Committee on Ways and Means.

[For extensive information about the medical marijuana debate, presented in a neutral format, visit MedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org.]