Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1204 To allow veterans to use, possess, or transport medical marijuana and to discuss the use of medical marijuana with a physician of the Department of Veterans Affairs as authorized by a State or Indian Tribe, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. KELLY, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To allow veterans to use, possess, or transport medical mari- juana and to discuss the use of medical marijuana with a physician of the Department of Veterans Affairs as authorized by a State or Indian Tribe, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Medical 4 Marijuana Safe Harbor Act.’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1204.IS S1204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1204 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Chronic pain affects the veteran population, 3 with almost 60 percent of veterans returning from 4 serving in the Armed Forces in the Middle East, and 5 more than 50 percent of older veterans, who are 6 using the health care system of the Department of 7 Veterans Affairs living with some form of chronic 8 pain. 9 (2) In 2020, opioids accounted for approxi- 10 mately 75 percent of all drug overdose deaths in the 11 United States. 12 (3) Veterans are twice as likely to die from 13 opioid-related overdoses than nonveterans. 14 (4) States with recreational cannabis laws expe- 15 rienced a 7.6 percent reduction in opioid-related 16 emergency department visits during the 180-day pe- 17 riod after the implementation of such laws. 18 (5) Marijuana and its compounds show promise 19 for pain management and treating a wide-range of 20 diseases and disorders, including post-traumatic 21 stress disorder. 22 (6) Medical marijuana in States where it is 23 legal may serve as a less harmful alternative to 24 opioids in treating veterans. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1204.IS S1204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1204 IS SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR FOR USE BY VETERANS OF MEDICAL 1 MARIJUANA. 2 (a) SAFE HARBOR.—Notwithstanding the Controlled 3 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Controlled 4 Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et 5 seq.), or any other Federal law, it shall not be unlawful 6 for— 7 (1) a veteran to use, possess, or transport med- 8 ical marijuana in a State or on Indian land if the 9 use, possession, or transport is authorized and in ac- 10 cordance with the law of the applicable State or In- 11 dian Tribe; 12 (2) a physician to discuss with a veteran the 13 use of medical marijuana as a treatment if the phy- 14 sician is in a State or on Indian land where the law 15 of the applicable State or Indian Tribe authorizes 16 the use, possession, distribution, dispensation, ad- 17 ministration, delivery, and transport of medical 18 marijuana; or 19 (3) a physician to recommend, complete forms 20 for, or register veterans for participation in a treat- 21 ment program involving medical marijuana that is 22 approved by the law of the applicable State or In- 23 dian Tribe. 24 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1204.IS S1204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1204 IS (1) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘‘Indian land’’ 1 means any of the Indian lands, as that term is de- 2 fined in section 824(b) of the Indian Health Care 3 Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1680n). 4 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 5 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 6 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 7 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 8 (3) PHYSICIAN.—The term ‘‘physician’’ means 9 a physician appointed by the Secretary of Veterans 10 Affairs under section 7401(1) of title 38, United 11 States Code. 12 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 13 ing given that term in section 102 of the Controlled 14 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 15 (5) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 16 meaning given that term in section 101 of title 38, 17 United States Code. 18 (c) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to have force 19 or effect on the date that is five years after the date of 20 the enactment of this Act. 21 SEC. 4. RESEARCH ON USE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA BY 22 VETERANS. 23 (a) RESEARCH ON EFFECTS OF MEDICAL MARI- 24 JUANA ON VETERANS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1204.IS S1204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1204 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary of Veterans Affairs shall support clinical re- 3 search on the use of medical marijuana— 4 (A) by veterans to manage pain; and 5 (B) for the treatment of veterans for dis- 6 eases and disorders such as post-traumatic 7 stress disorder. 8 (2) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Sec- 9 retary shall coordinate and collaborate with other 10 relevant Federal agencies to support and facilitate 11 clinical research under paragraph (1). 12 (3) REPORT.—Not later than two years after 13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 14 shall submit to Congress a report on the ongoing 15 clinical research supported by the Secretary under 16 paragraph (1), which shall include such rec- 17 ommendations for legislative or administrative action 18 as the Secretary considers appropriate to continue to 19 support the management of pain and the treatment 20 of diseases and disorders of veterans. 21 (b) STUDY ON USE BY VETERANS OF STATE MED- 22 ICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAMS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1204.IS S1204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1204 IS retary shall conduct a study on the relationship be- 1 tween treatment programs involving medical mari- 2 juana that are approved by States, the access of vet- 3 erans to such programs, and a reduction in opioid 4 use and misuse among veterans. 5 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 6 the date on which the study required under para- 7 graph (1) is completed, the Secretary shall submit to 8 Congress a report on the study, which shall include 9 such recommendations for legislative or administra- 10 tive action as the Secretary considers appropriate. 11 (c) VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section, the term 12 ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given that term in section 101 13 of title 38, United States Code. 14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Vet- 16 erans Affairs such sums as may be necessary to carry out 17 this section. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1204.IS S1204 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS