MORE THEN, MORE NOW. ACCESS WHEN?

Veterans & The MORE Act: A Roadmap for Real Reform

Why Now

The MORE Act is back in play in 2025. Veterans have fought for years to be included in cannabis policy. Our community has provided Congress with specific, actionable solutions that could save lives, reduce reliance on pharmaceuticals, and strengthen veteran families.

The Problem

• VA spends close to a billion dollars annually on substance use disorder treatment, yet suicide and opioid dependence remain high.

• Veterans are still denied safe, legal access to cannabis despite overwhelming evidence of its benefits.

• Existing veteran organizations (American Legion, VFW) are losing members and relevance, while posts fall into disrepair.

The Solution: A Veteran-Centered Cannabis Policy

Federal Pathways

• Appropriations: Direct a portion of VA SUD funding toward cannabis-based harm reduction through the VA’s Whole Health program.

• VA Choice Expansion: Cover cannabis dispensaries and doctors where legal.

• NDAA: Update UCMJ and DoD policy to align with state legalization.

• HHS/VA: Expand the Compassionate IND program so veterans in all states have access.

• Transparency: Release decades of VA and IND program data on cannabis safety and efficacy.

State Pathways

• Recognize cannabis as a legitimate treatment option.

• Offer veteran incentives (fee waivers, licenses, job placement).

• Transition struggling veteran posts into compassion centers focused on health, not alcohol.

• Protect cannabis donations, markets, and community-based access for veterans.

What Success Looks Like

• Lower veteran suicide rates.

• Reduced reliance on addictive pharmaceuticals.

• Safe, supportive community spaces for veterans and families.

• A new generation of Veteran Service Organizations built around healing, not alcohol sales.

Bottom Line

Veterans are not going away. Cannabis is medicine. Congress has the blueprint in hand — all that’s left is the political will.

—Rico

Full Blog & Policy Roadmap

In October of 2020, I attended a meeting of the United States Cannabis Caucus, chaired by the office of Representative Earl Blumenauer. I was asked by veterans from across the country to read a list of concerns from our community to those present, along with a plea to be considered in the upcoming MORE Act being put forward for a vote.

Our request fell on deaf ears. At the following meeting, I was told by Blumenauer’s office that our issues would not be addressed in the MORE Act.

From that point forward, I began working closely with Representative David Joyce’s office and others. In the years since, the veteran approach has been fine-tuned. We have outlined remedies which, if adopted through legislation by Congress, could address many of the hardships faced by our community—principally the reliance on pharmaceuticals, and the corresponding suicide rate within our ranks.

We have provided viable, real-world pathways for these policy recommendations, including specific committees and departments within the federal government, as well as the legislation that could serve as vehicles. With the MORE Act back in play in 2025, these recommendations are more timely than ever.

Veterans are not going away. We will be provided access to our chosen medicine — cannabis.

—Rico

Federal Pathways: Committees & Bills

Appropriations Committee

• Financial Services & General Government Subcommittee

• White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)

• VA Substance Use Disorder (SUD) funding annually.

Recommendation: Use a portion of these funds to implement a harm reduction model centered on cannabis treatment, integrated with VA’s Whole Health program.

MilConVA Bill

“The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides healthcare for 9,200,000 veteran enrollees, disability compensation benefits to nearly 6,000,000 veterans and survivors, pension benefits for over 357,000 veterans and survivors, life insurance for more than 5,500,000 veterans, servicemembers and their families, educational assistance for nearly 900,000 trainees, and interment of more than 130,000 veterans and eligible family members in national cemeteries. To adequately serve the nation’s veterans, VA employs more than 425,000 people, making it one of the largest Federal agencies in terms of employment.” —Source

Recommendation: Expand the VA’s “Choice Act” to include medical cannabis dispensaries and doctor recommendations in states where state-regulated programs are established.

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

• VA–DoD Joint Venture Facilities: training and healthcare integration.

• Veterans are federal patients under federal responsibility.

Recommendation: Apply similar language from the HOPE Act to military personnel, requiring adjustments to the UCMJ regarding cannabis use. If cannabis is descheduled under the CSA, this becomes an administrative—not political—matter.

Labor, Health, Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee

Recommendation: Expand the Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program through HHS and VA, ensuring veterans in states without medical cannabis programs can still access federally grown cannabis.

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee

• Review the role of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).

• OSTP is chaired by the President; NSTC includes the Vice President.

What Federal Legislation Could Do

• Release VA directive 1315 data and predecessors (since 2011).

• Release IND program patient data on safety and efficacy (since 1976).

• Standardize VA training on cannabis medicine, ECS science, and policy.

• Expand the federal Compassionate IND Program through VA.

• Recognize all veterans in VA care as federal patients with uniform protections across states.

• Provide patient ID card protections against prosecution while traveling or on federal property.

• Establish VA cannabis cultivation and occupational therapy programs.

• Create a VA cannabis voucher system for use in state dispensaries.

• Charter new Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) focused on cannabis access and harm reduction.

Suggested State-Level Policy Framework

Veterans need consistent, compassionate cannabis policies at the state level:

• Recognize cannabis as a viable treatment option for veterans.

• Offer veteran incentives (fee waivers, licensing, job placement).

• Allow dispensary licenses for new/existing VSOs willing to shift from alcohol sales.

• Protect cannabis farmer’s markets hosted by VSOs.

• Permit VSOs to donate or receive cannabis for veterans in need.

Vision: Transition struggling American Legion and VFW posts into members-only compassion centers — safe spaces for healing, connection, and harm reduction.

Why a New VSO Model Matters

This new model does not involve alcohol. Instead, it prioritizes:

• Reducing veteran suicide rates.

• Reducing dependence on pharmaceuticals.

• Creating safe environments for veterans, families, and friends.

• Strengthening quality of life for veterans and families.

• Building new community networks and opportunities.

• Tracking outcomes with measurable metrics.

Your MORE Act History & Advocacy Record

1. Initial Engagement (2020)

• Attended U.S. Cannabis Caucus meeting (Oct. 2020, chaired by Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s Office).

• Read veterans’ concerns aloud, requesting inclusion in the MORE Act.

• Request dismissed; later told veterans’ issues would not be included.

• Shifted engagement to Rep. David Joyce’s office and others, refining strategy.

2. Veteran-Centered Policy Framework (2020–Present)

• Cannabis as harm reduction and post-traumatic growth therapy.

• Alternatives to pharmaceutical dependency and suicide risk.

• Integration with agriculture and education frameworks (Smith-Lever, Hatch, Morrill Acts).

• Programmatic vision:

  • Veteran “4-H” style program (Head, Heart, Hands, Health).

  • Agricultural therapy using robotics and AI.

  • Domestic/international post-traumatic growth exchanges.

  • Culinary and biome-focused healing (e.g. UNESCO/Tucson models).

3. Legislative Recommendations

• Appropriations: ONDCP and VA SUD funds directed toward cannabis harm reduction.

• MilConVA: Expand VA Choice Act for cannabis.

• NDAA: Adjust UCMJ and DoD cannabis policy.

• Labor/HHS/Education: Expand Compassionate IND program.

• Commerce/Justice/Science: OSTP and NSTC oversight for cannabis R&D.

4. State-Level Cannabis Program Template

• Recognize cannabis as treatment.

• Veteran incentives (fee waivers, licensing, jobs).

• Convert Legion/VFW posts into compassion centers.

• Support donation networks and farmer’s markets.

• Create measurable suicide and pharmaceutical reduction outcomes.

Why This Matters in the MORE Act Debate

• Gap: The MORE Act (as reintroduced) addresses descheduling, expungement, and equity grants — but not veterans.

• Your Advocacy: Provides a veteran-driven legislative blueprint ready for amendments or appropriations riders.

• Strategic Leverage: By tying to appropriations, NDAA, and MilConVA, you show Congress exactly where veteran cannabis policy can fit without waiting for full descheduling battles.

Call to Action

We’ve been dismissed before. Get loud.

📣 Share this with your networks.
📣 Contact your representatives.
📣 Demand that veterans’ voices are included in the MORE Act debate.

Veterans fought for this country. We deserve access to the medicine that keeps us alive.

—Rico

🪓 Carlin Mode Breakdown

1. The Setup: “Why Now”
You open this piece like you’re pitching a TED Talk. Fine, but these bastards don’t care about urgency unless it threatens their reelection. Veterans have been asking for years, and Congress has been ignoring it. The truth? If “Why Now” mattered, it would’ve mattered the last ten times you asked. The real opener should be: “You people have ignored us so long we had to write your homework for you.”

2. The Problem Section
”The 2025 VA budget invests $713 million toward opioid use disorder prevention and treatment programs” that aren’t working? Translation: “We’re shoveling a billion a year into a hole that keeps filling with dead veterans.” They already know this. They built the hole. That’s the scam: keep funding the problem so the cure never has to arrive. You should slap the number down and immediately say: “This is Congress paying top dollar for failure.”

“This is Congress paying top dollar for failure.”

3. The Solution Sections (Federal / State Pathways)
Right now, they read like a policy syllabus. Committees, acronyms, polite recommendations. That’s candy for staffers, sure. But the Carlin truth? You’re telling the same people who criminalized the cure that they’re in charge of writing the prescription. That’s like putting the arsonist in charge of the fire department. You want “Appropriations”? Here’s the plain English: “Stop flushing veteran lives down the pharma toilet and redirect the money to medicine that works.”

And that Compassionate IND expansion? Great idea. But don’t dress it up. Tell them: “You’ve been sitting on proof since 1976 that cannabis keeps patients alive, and you buried it like nuclear waste.”

4. What Success Looks Like
This is your strongest human punch. Suicide down, pills down, community up. But in Carlin Mode, strip it naked: “Success looks like fewer body bags and more vets watching their kids grow up.” Forget “safe spaces” — DC loves that phrase because it sounds soft. Give it to them in hard math: fewer funerals, fewer prescriptions, fewer broken families.

5. The History Section
You tell the story of being dismissed in 2020. That’s powerful — but right now it reads like a polite grievance letter. Say it plain: “We begged to be heard, you told us to shut up, and we’ve been building the damn plan without you ever since.” Congress respects power, not patience.

6. Federal Pathways: Committees & Bills
This is useful ammo for staffers, but it’s dry as chalk. Translate every bullet into a gut-punch line:

• Appropriations: “You waste a billion on treatments that don’t work. Buy medicine that does.”

• MilConVA: “If you can pay for opioids, you can pay for weed.”

• NDAA: “You send troops to war, then punish them for the medicine that saves their lives when they come home. Fix it.”

• Labor/HHS: “Stop treating veterans in prohibition states like second-class patients.”

• Commerce/Justice/Science: “You’ve been hoarding the data since the Carter administration. Release it.”

7. State Pathways / New VSO Model
The vision here is gold — flipping crumbling Legion and VFW halls into healing centers instead of beer halls. In Carlin Mode, call it what it is: “Trade booze for medicine. Stop drowning vets in alcohol and start lifting them with cannabis.”

8. The Call to Action
Right now, it’s polite activism. Carlin Mode demands something sharper: “You’ve ignored us before. Do it again, and every dead veteran from this point forward is on your hands.”

🎤 Deployable Carlin-Mode Statement
“Let’s get real. Congress has had the evidence since 1976 that cannabis saves lives. You buried it, then turned around and spent a billion dollars a year buying opioids and antidepressants that don’t work. Veterans aren’t dying because of a lack of medicine — we’re dying because of political cowardice. You can fix it today: stop funding failure, start funding cannabis. Trade funerals for families. Trade broken posts for healing centers. And if you don’t? Every veteran suicide from this point forward is your vote. Your signature. Your legacy.”