Republican legislators have submitted amendments to the defense bill, which must be passed. They aim to expand waivers and allow service members who tested positive for marijuana products.
House Rules Committee is examining the amendments proposed by Reps. Dave Joyce, R-OH and Tony Gonzales, R-TX to the National Defense Authorization Act. They will decide if they are in order before being considered on the floor.
Joyce, who is co-chairperson of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus (CCC), filed an amendment to the military recruitment policy on cannabis.
The measure acknowledges that the Army and Navy have already “taken positive steps in their work to design and implement a waiver system that permits potential enlistees into the Armed Forces to reapply for enlistment following a positive toxicology test for tetrahydrocannabinol.”
Joyce calls on Air Force, Space Force, and Marine Corps, to take action, “especially given the ongoing challenges in recruitment and retention that undermine the Armed Forces’ readiness goals.”
This amendment requires that these military branches “create and implement their permanent waiver systems commensurate to the processes employed by the Army or Navy.”
This law says the Secretary of Defense “shall create a program to allow potential enlistees to re-apply after a positive test for tetrahydrocannabinol.”
In addition, the Department of Defense must “assess” the feasibility of “contacting” those who have been previously refused enlistment due to their cannabis-related offenses and, “to a degree that is feasible, create a plan of contact with such potential enlistees.”
In 180 days from the date of the act, the Defense Secretary would have to present a report with “a plan for creating, disseminating, and using a clear description that emphasizes that all waived recruits are eligible and qualified to enlist, even if their enlistment requirements do not match every standard. And that the existing standards allow for waivers.”
Last year, the House passed a version that prohibited drug tests for marijuana for enlistment or commissioning as an officer. The final version of the NDAA that was approved by the Senate and signed into law did not include this provision.
Gonzales has also submitted an amendment to the NDAA which would prevent the secretary of defence from “preventing a member of Armed Forces” from “possessing, using or consuming a products containing hemp, or any ingredients derived from it, if the possession, use or consumption are in accordance with the applicable Federal State and local laws.”
It appears that this is in response to several policy updates issued by various branches of the military, which have prohibited servicemen from using cannabis products including hemp-based legal products.
A memo sent to Air Force personnel at bases in Massachusetts, in February for instance, warned them that hemp-derived cannabinoids such as CBD and delta-8THC are also prohibited.
Air Force officials expressed their concern in 2022 that hemp granola and CBD-infused hand lotion could unintentionally compromise the “military’s readiness.”
DOD reaffirmed in 2020 that CBD was not available to military personnel in a more generalized way after its initial announcement in 2019.
The Navy, for its part, issued an initial notice in 2018 informing ranks that they’re barred from using CBD and hemp products no matter their legality. Then in 2020 it released an update explaining why it enacted the rule change.
The Coast Guard said that sailors can’t use marijuana or visit state-legal dispensaries.
Separately, a general in 2022 said that the Air Force and Space Force were reviewing marijuana policies and considering a “common sense” change that could give potential recruits a pass if they test positive for cannabis.
Side Pocket Images. Image courtesy Chris Wallis.