Marijuana Moment: Florida Lawmakers Approve Bill To Slash Medical Marijuana Card Fee For Military Veterans

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Florida lawmakers have unanimously approved a bill to significantly reduce the fee for military veterans to obtain medical marijuana registry identification cards, slashing the cost to one-fifth of the current amount.

The House Health Professions & Programs Subcommittee on Thursday voted 18-0 to pass the legislation from Reps. Susan Valdés (R) and Michelle Salzman (R).

Valdés told colleagues ahead of the vote that the proposal is a “simple bill with a very big impact” on veterans.

“Considering how many veterans in the past have been on medications such as opioids and things of this nature, this is an opportunity to assist veterans being able to obtain a much better way of dealing with their medical issues,” she said. “And by reducing the costs of access, it is not symbolic for the veterans we serve. It directly moves a costly barrier that often keeps the already underserved veterans from participating in a program that can support their health stability and their overall wellbeing.”

Rep. Mitch Rosenwald (D) said the legislation is “not only fiscally sound, but more than that, this is the right thing to do.”

“A lot of veterans have PTSD and other some mental health challenges,” he said. “Cannabis works as part of the treatment plan. So this is the least we can do for our veterans.”

If enacted into law, veterans who have been honorably discharged would need to pay a $15 fee to obtain a medical cannabis card—down from the current $75 fee for most qualifying patients.

The $15 charge would also apply to any replacement cards, as well as annual renewals.

In order to qualify for the reduced fee, veterans would need to supply the state Department of Health (DOH) with a copy of their discharge release form, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) identification card or a Florida driver license “bearing the veteran designation.”

The law would take effect beginning on July 1 of this year.

According to a bill analysis, the reform would have an “indeterminate, negative fiscal impact on DOH.” While there are currently more than 931,000 registered medical marijuana patients in Florida, the “number of veterans who hold active medical marijuana use registry identification cards is unknown,” and so “the amount of revenue reduction is unknown.”

That said, the analysis states that the policy change would “have a positive fiscal impact on veterans who will experience a $60 reduction in the cost of the identification card under the bill.”

The subcommittee vote on the fee reduction bill comes about a week after the Senate Regulated Industries Committee advanced separate legislation to ban smoking or vaping marijuana in public places. Rep. Alex Andrade (R) is sponsoring a similar bill to ban public cannabis smoking in the House of Representatives.

Here’s an overview of other pending Florida marijuana bills:

• A House lawmaker is sponsoring a bill to legalize recreational marijuana that also aims to break up what he calls “monopolies” in the state’s current medical cannabis program by revising the business licensing structure.
• Another representative’s bill would protect the parental rights of medical cannabis patients, preventing them from losing custody of their children for using their medicine in accordance with state law.
• Other lawmakers are sponsoring legislation to expand the state’s medical marijuana program, in part by increasing supply limits for patients and waiving registration fees for honorably discharged military veterans. The proposals would also allow doctors to recommend cannabis to any patient who has a condition for which they have been prescribed opioids.
• A senator is sponsoring a bill to legalize home cultivation of marijuana for registered medical cannabis patients in the state.

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Meanwhile, a campaign is working against the clock to collect enough signatures to again put the question of adult-use marijuana legalization to voters at the ballot. But there have been complications.

Most recently, the Republican attorney general of Florida and several business and anti-marijuana groups urged the state Supreme Court to block the legalization initiative, calling it “fatally flawed” and unconstitutional.

The briefs were filed days after Smart and Safe Florida filed a new lawsuit against state officials, alleging that they improperly directed the invalidation of about 71,000 signatures as a turn-in deadline approaches.

In March, meanwhile, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate what they described as “potentially unlawful diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds via a group with ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The money was used to fight against the 2024 citizen ballot initiative, vehemently opposed by the governor, that would have legalized marijuana for adults.

The lawmakers’ letter followed allegations that a $10 million donation from a state legal settlement was improperly made to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, which in turn sent $8.5 million to a campaign opposing Amendment 3.

The governor said last February that the newest marijuana legalization measure is in “big time trouble” with the state Supreme Court, predicting it would be blocked from going before voters this year.

“There’s a lot of different perspectives on on marijuana,” DeSantis said. “It should not be in our Constitution. If you feel strongly about it, you have elections for the legislature. Go back candidates that you believe will be able to deliver what your vision is on that.”

“But when you put these things in the Constitution—and I think, I mean, the way they wrote, there’s all kinds of things going on in here. I think it’s going to have big time trouble getting through the Florida Supreme Court,” he said.

In 2023, the governor accurately predicted that the 2024 cannabis measure from the campaign would survive a legal challenge from the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he feels this version would face a different outcome.

While there’s uncertainty around how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released last February showed overwhelming bipartisan voter support for the reform—with 67 percent of Florida voters backing legalization, including 82 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans.

Separately, Florida medical marijuana officials are actively revoking the registrations of patients and caregivers with drug-related criminal records. The policy is part of broad budget legislation signed into law last year by DeSantis. The provisions in question direct the state Department of Health (DOH) to cancel registrations of medical marijuana patients and caregivers if they’re convicted of—or plead guilty or no contest to—criminal drug charges.

In the background, a recent poll from a Trump-affiliated research firm found that nearly 9 in 10 Florida voters say they should have the right to decide to legalize marijuana in the state.

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