Global Ganja Report

The VA only pledges not to cut off benefits to military veterans who use medical marijuana if they are enrolled in a state program. Those in states with no such programs remain the lurch. So vets are now speaking out in favor of pending state medical marijuana laws.

Amid continued federal intransigence on recognizing cannabis as legitimate medicine for military veterans, advocates take heart in legislation pending on Capitol Hill that would mandate that the VA study the question.

Military veterans continue to be denied much-needed treatment by the VA because of their cannabis use, even in states that have legalized. While there has been some progress on the question, vets are still being cut off—amid a combined national crisis of veteran suicides and opioid abuse.

A new amendment to the Defense Department budget could allow service members to use CBD products—a direct response to a move by Pentagon brass to explicitly restrict all cannabis derivatives.

Amid national outrage over racial injustice, a Black disabled vet was sentenced to five years for cannabis that he uses medicinally in Alabama. A medical marijuana bill in the state seemed likely to pass this year, but was aborted when the legislature was shut down by the COVID-19 crisis. Alabama continues to have some of the harshest cannabis laws in the country.

The Emerald Triangle mourns the passing of BE Smith, the legendary Trinity County grower who did time in federal prison for openly cultivating cannabis under California's medical marijuana law—throwing down the proverbial gauntlet to Washington DC from his mountain homestead. His bold action put the Justice Department on the spot, and helped prompt a change in federal policy.

The percentage of military veterans facing challenges from PTSD is staggering, but the Department of Veterans Affairs remains intransigent on allowing access to cannabis—the only treatment that provides relief for many. And there has been little progress on efforts in Congress to remedy the situation.

Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives would protect the jobs of federal employees who use cannabis in states where their use is currently legal. The measure is being hailed by advocates as a critical blow for workers' rights in the age cannabis normalization.