Free Florida Marijuana Cards Proposed For US Veterans

A Florida House subcommittee has given bipartisan backing to a proposal that would waive the $75 fee for military veterans seeking medical marijuana cards.

The proposal seeks to reduce the financial and procedural barriers that honorably discharged veterans face when accessing cannabis for conditions such as chronic pain or PTSD.

Why It Matters

Veterans would still need to qualify for medical marijuana under state law, and fees would remain to be certified for a medical marijuana card by a licensed doctor. But the state's $75 fee would be waived. The proposal would also require certifications every two years rather than annually.

Supporters of the proposal say eliminating the fee is a targeted way to ease financial and administrative burdens for those who have served in the military.

Efforts to broadly legalize marijuana in Florida faced a significant setback in November, when a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational cannabis for adults failed to reach the 60 percent approval threshold required to pass.

What To Know

Florida's medical marijuana program requires patients to receive a physician's certification annually and pay a $75 fee to obtain, renew or replace their medical marijuana cards.

In addition to eliminating the $75 fee, the proposal — part of a pared-down version of House Bill 555 introduced by Republican Representative Alex Andrade — would extend the certification period from one year to two.

Andrade's original proposal had called for broader reforms, including home cultivation, expanded qualifying conditions and allowing out-of-state patients to access Florida dispensaries.

Those provisions were removed before the current version was taken up by the Health Professions & Programs Subcommittee.

The bill has not yet been heard in the Senate, where a companion measure — Senate Bill 552 filed by Republican state Senator Joe Gruters — has seen no movement since its March 4 introduction, according to The Palm Beach Post.

Newsweek has contacted Representative Andrade for comment outside of normal working hours.

Marijuana Bills In Florida

Several marijuana-related bills were introduced in Florida's 2025 legislative session at the start of March, but few have gained traction.

HB 83 and SB 142 would protect public employees who use medical marijuana from adverse employment actions, with exceptions for impairment on the job.

HB 993 and SB 146 seek to prevent courts from using a parent's legal marijuana use as grounds to restrict parental rights or presume neglect.

SB 546 proposes allowing home cultivation of up to two plants per household for qualified patients.

SB 778 would add opioid addiction to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, and SB 1026 would create a process for expunging certain marijuana possession charges.

As of April, none of the measures has progressed beyond their initial committee assignments.

What People Are Saying

Democratic state Representative LaVon Bracy Davis told Florida Politics: "I love this bill. Quote me on this."

Republican state Representative Michelle Salzman told Florida Politics: "The way the system is set up currently, you have to go to the doctor every so many days and you have to get renewed every so many days, and those do not coincide. So you could go to the doctor and get all of your stuff renewed and then not know that you were supposed to renew your medical marijuana license two months prior. You go straight from the doctor to the dispensary and you can't get a prescription, and now you have to wait. They've done a good job of streamlining that process, but you still have to wait, and it's another $75 fee, which you already had to pay close to $200 to see the doctor."

Dr John Luque, a professor at the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, told Newsweek: "Many U.S. veterans suffer from chronic pain and are at higher risk of an accidental prescription opioid overdose. Medical cannabis is an alternative treatment that may benefit some veterans. Therefore, the proposed waiver of the $75 registration and renewal fee of the medical cannabis program in Florida contained in the bill will expand access to veterans who are seeking medical cannabis to treat one or more of their qualifying conditions, such as chronic pain and/or PTSD."

What Happens Next

The bill is set to continue through House committees, but its ultimate fate is uncertain without Senate action.

Update 04/01/25, 10.40 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Dr John Luque.