Nearly 33 percent more recruits tested positive for marijuana in 2022 than in 2020. A proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) would end cannabis testing for members of the military — both when they’re enlisting and UK😃accepting a commission.
If the amendment is included in the NDAA, H.R. 2670 (118), it would address a growing issue in the U.S. military: the increasing number of recruits who test positive for marijuana use, particularly in states where it is legal. Nearly 33 percent more recruits tested positive in 2022 than in 2020, according to the New York Times.
That isn’t the only weed amendment. Another would allow doctors at the VA to give medical opinions on cannabis use as a treatment to patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. That amendment was proposed by the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus: Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Dave Joyce (R-Ohio).
Another amendment would explicitly allow military members to consume CBD products that are legal under federal law. That amendment was proposed by Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas).
Links: proposed amendment pdfNYT [[house.gov pdf](https://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/GONTX_044_xml230629090149236.pdf)](https://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/MAST_063_xml230630100532613.pdf)
Why are Republicans supporting this? Isn’t cannabis a big nono for conservatives?
Their donors (military industrial complex) are telling them to.
Ask them to legalize on a federal level and you will still get a lot of push back as many police forces and private prisons would lose a significant amount of funding.
The military is freaking about current and future recruitment numbers, and the war machine must continue, even if that means conceding to yet another previously excluded section of the population
And then there’s Tommy Tubervulle blocking ALL high level military positions from being filled over providing access to abortion for servicewomen who have been raped. Hyperbole is dead.
That has been gradually changing because it’s quickly becoming obvious that the majority of the republican voter base is pro-legalization and that the states that legalized recreation marijuana have seen mostly positive effects.
Meanwhile, the current stance on marijuana is making it more difficult to recruit for national security and defense related positions.
This has gotta be a huge step towards federal decriminalization, maybe even full national legalization?
Absolutely. There are definitely still holdouts but it represents a major change.
Some highlights:
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In 2021 the Director of National Intelligence issued a memo clarifying that past, or even current, marijuana use is not determinative in issuing security clearances. It may be considered a sign that someone would break protocol but that approvers should use a “whole person approach”. She said in a later interview, “We recognize, frankly, that many states have legalized or decriminalized marijuana use and wanted to be sure that we’re not disqualifying people solely for that purpose in that context.”
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Late 2022, the Biden administration requested that the scheduling of Marijuana be reviewed with the presumptive result it will be reclassified as no longer Schedule 1
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Early 2022 the house of reps voted through a bill officially legalizing recreational marijuana at the federal level. It lost by a few votes in the senate. It received bipartisan support.
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Late 2022, the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee voted through a proposal explicitly prohibiting federal agencies from denying security clearances over marijuana alone. It was later squashed by a couple old guard GOP senators.
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