CHECK
For your consideration:
Summary
This article examines how the U.S. military should prepare for inevitable federal cannabis legalization by studying the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), which has successfully implemented an authorized cannabis use policy since 2018. It argues that, once Congress removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and Article 112a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the U.S. military should adopt a similar framework permitting responsible cannabis use by service members while maintaining good order and discipline.
The paper begins with the Canadian model, where service members may consume cannabis under clearly defined restrictions: no use within eight hours of duty, within twenty-four hours of handling weapons, or within twenty-eight days of flight or submarine duties. Despite these limits, most CAF members may legally use cannabis off-duty, and no significant disciplinary or readiness problems have been reported since implementation.
In contrast, the U.S. military currently prohibits any cannabis use, aligning with federal law. This prohibition affects recruitment and retention, as many potential recruits live in states with legalized cannabis and may be disqualified or require waivers. The article highlights that these strict accession policies reduce the pool of eligible recruits and fail to reflect normalized cannabis use in American society.
The author proposes a two-part U.S. military cannabis policy:
Liberalize accession policies—remove the need for misconduct waivers for prior cannabis use, shorten retest waiting periods, and allow security-clearance eligibility for applicants who used cannabis legally.
Authorize responsible cannabis use once federal legalization occurs—modeled on CAF’s approach, with limits based on duty periods and job types to ensure safety and discipline.
Legal changes would be required before implementation, particularly amending Article 112a, UCMJ, and revising Army Regulation (AR) 600-85, which governs substance use policies. The new framework would also integrate medical and authorized cannabis use under a single system to avoid confusion.
The paper concludes that an authorized cannabis use policy would improve recruitment, retention, and morale while saving administrative time and costs associated with drug testing and separations. Drawing on Canada’s success, the author contends that the U.S. military can trust service members to act responsibly and adapt to the realities of legal cannabis use, maintaining discipline without blanket prohibition.
This proposal establishes a unified framework for veterans’ health, wellness, and post-traumatic growth by connecting three moments in U.S. history:
1946 — OSS “Truth Drug” Program:
The U.S. government’s Office of Strategic Services synthesized and tested cannabis acetate for psychological effects, proving federal knowledge of cannabis’ pharmacological efficacy as early as World War II.1976 — The Robert Randall Precedent:
Through Randall v. U.S., the courts recognized cannabis’ medical necessity, compelling the government to supply it under the Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program — a legal admission of therapeutic value and patient legitimacy.2025 — Veterans’ Health Equity Framework:
Today’s veterans, who are legally defined as federal patients within VA care, are still denied access to a plant the government once studied and prescribed. This proposal reclaims that legacy through a comprehensive model of care emphasizing prevention, post-traumatic growth, and community reintegration.
Core Proposal
A. Community Health & Wellness
Build a “Veterans 4-H” reintegration program under the Smith-Lever, Hatch, and Morrill Acts to promote agricultural therapy, self-sufficiency, and sustainable food systems.
Partner with the VA Whole Health Program, AmeriCorps, and state land-grant universities to provide education, therapy, and career pathways for veterans.
B. Agriculture Therapy & Post-Traumatic Growth
Expand community gardens and therapeutic farming as accessible long-term healing practices.
Frame these programs as public-health investments, emphasizing prevention over crisis intervention.
Use AI-based “Growbots” and digital education tools to scale agricultural knowledge and interactive learning.
C. Cannabis-Specific Federal Policy Reforms
Direct the Appropriations Committee, VA, and DoD to pilot harm-reduction and cannabis-integrated treatment models within existing $922M Substance Use Disorder budgets.
Amend the MilCon-VA and NDAA bills to treat veterans as federal medical patients eligible for cannabis therapy, under uniform national policy.
Expand the Compassionate IND Program and create a VA cannabis voucher or federal cultivation initiative to ensure equitable access across all states and territories.
Charter new Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) to serve as members-only compassion centers focused on recovery and reintegration, not alcohol sales.
D. Ethical and Historical Basis
The OSS “truth drug” memo proves federal acknowledgment of cannabis’ efficacy.
The Randall precedent establishes legal recognition of medical necessity.
Together, they create a moral and scientific mandate for veterans’ cannabis access today.
Central Principle: “From Control to Care”
Federal cannabis policy has evolved from:
Control — weaponized experimentation on captive subjects;
Compassion — limited exceptions for individual patients;
Care — an overdue duty to heal those who served.
Veterans’ cannabis access is not a political demand but a federal obligation grounded in precedent, science, and ethics.
Irv Rosenfeld is one of the last surviving participants in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program — a federally sanctioned medical cannabis initiative established in the late 1970s following the Robert Randall case.
Here’s the factual backbone of that:
The Living Continuation of the Randall Precedent
Program Origin: The Compassionate IND program was created in 1978 after glaucoma patient Robert C. Randall successfully argued medical necessity in U.S. v. Randall (1976). The case forced the federal government to acknowledge that cannabis could be medically essential for certain patients.
Program Function: Under the IND program, the government (through the University of Mississippi, which still grows cannabis under contract with the DEA) rolled and distributed tins containing 300 pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes per month to approved patients.
Program Closure: The program was officially frozen in 1992 under President George H.W. Bush after the number of applicants swelled during the AIDS crisis. However, existing participants were “grandfathered in” and continue receiving their supply.
Current Status: As of now, Irv Rosenfeld of Florida remains one of the final active patients in the program. For decades, he has legally received canisters of federal cannabis for a rare bone disorder (multiple congenital cartilaginous exostoses). The cannabis is shipped from the University of Mississippi and dispensed through a federal pharmacy system.
Why This Matters
Rosenfeld’s ongoing status proves that:
The federal government already administers medical cannabis under its own authority.
– It continues to grow, process, and distribute cannabis to a federal patient under medical supervision.Schedule I classification is contradicted by federal practice.
– Cannabis cannot be “without accepted medical use” if the government itself is dispensing it as medicine.Veterans have a legitimate legal pathway for inclusion.
– If one federal patient continues to receive cannabis lawfully, then denying veterans — who are likewise under federal care — is inconsistent both legally and ethically.The Compassionate IND program can be expanded.
– The precedent, infrastructure, and production pipeline already exist. Expanding IND access through the VA and HHS is administratively feasible — not a legislative impossibility.
The Randall-Rosenfeld Continuum
From Robert Randall’s court victory in 1976 to Irv Rosenfeld’s continuing monthly shipments of federally grown cannabis in 2025, the United States government has maintained an unbroken line of medical cannabis acknowledgment for nearly fifty years.
This ongoing federal distribution invalidates Schedule I classification and establishes a living precedent for medical necessity under federal authority. Veterans — as federally administered patients — fall squarely within that same category.
The Compassionate IND Program is not a relic; it is an underutilized model that can be expanded through the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Health and Human Services to provide equitable, consistent care for federal patients nationwide.
