{"id":85543,"date":"2026-03-04T13:18:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/florida-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-provide-discounted-medical-marijuana-cards-for-military-veterans\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T19:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T03:46:25","slug":"florida-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-provide-discounted-medical-marijuana-cards-for-military-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/florida-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-provide-discounted-medical-marijuana-cards-for-military-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill To Provide Discounted Medical Marijuana Cards For Military Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-1.jpg\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1500\"> <\/p>\n<p>The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill to significantly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/florida-lawmakers-vote-to-slash-medical-marijuana-fees-for-military-veterans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">reduce the fee for military veterans to obtain medical marijuana registry identification cards<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The measure from Reps. Susan Vald\u00e9s (R) and Michelle Salzman (R) was approved in a unanimous 113-0 vote on Wednesday. This comes after the proposal cleared three House panels and as separate Senate legislation to reduce medical cannabis costs for veterans is also advancing.<\/p>\n<p>If HB 887 is enacted into law, veterans who have been honorably discharged would need to pay a $15 fee to obtain a medical cannabis card\u2014down from the current $75 fee for most qualifying patients.<\/p>\n<p>The $15 charge would also apply to any replacement cards, as well as annual renewals.<\/p>\n<p>In order to qualify for the reduced fee, veterans would need to supply the state Department of Health (DOH) with a copy of their discharge release form, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) identification card or a Florida driver license \u201cbearing the veteran designation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The law would take effect beginning on July 1 of this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMedical cannabis has shown promise in alleviating symptoms commonly experienced by military veterans, like managing chronic pain, alleviating the effects of PTSD, improving sleep and reducing the dependency on opioids,\u201d Vald\u00e9s said on the House floor. \u201cThis bill will largely reduce the financial barriers veterans face when accessing medical marijuana, their chosen healthcare solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy reducing the cost of access is not only a symbolic gesture for the veterans that serve us, it directly removes the cost barrier that\u2019s too high often keeps already underserved veterans from participating in this program, and this is a way that we can show how grateful we are to our veterans by lighting that board green,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/thefloridachannel.org\/videos\/3-4-26-house-session\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>, as first <a href=\"https:\/\/floridapolitics.com\/archives\/783289-house-approves-bill-lowering-medical-marijuana-card-costs-for-veterans-but-path-unclear-in-senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> by Florida Politics.<\/p>\n<p>According to a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flhouse.gov\/Sections\/Bills\/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=83525\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bill<\/a>\u00a0analysis, the reform would have an \u201cindeterminate, negative fiscal impact on DOH.\u201d While there are currently more than 931,000 registered medical marijuana patients in Florida, the \u201cnumber of veterans who hold active medical marijuana use registry identification cards is unknown,\u201d and so \u201cthe amount of revenue reduction is unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That said, the analysis states that the policy change would \u201chave a positive fiscal impact on veterans who will experience a $60 reduction in the cost of the identification card under the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, the Senate Health Policy Committee advanced a bill from Sen. Alexis Calatayud (R) that would also reduce the medical cannabis registration fees for veterans to $15 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/florida-senators-approve-bill-to-increase-medical-marijuana-supply-limits-and-slash-patient-fees-for-veterans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">enact other reforms to expand medical marijuana access<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Under that proposal as amended, a doctor would be able to recommend up to five 70-day supply limits of cannabis or up to 10 35-day supply limits of smokable marijuana products. Under current law, they can only provide recommendations for a maximum of three 70-day supply limits for non-smokable cannabis and six 35-day supply limits for smokable marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>The bill, SB 1032, would further make it so doctors would need to evaluate patients for medical marijuana qualification every 52 weeks, rather than the current statutory requirement of evaluations every 30 weeks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here\u2019s an overview of other pending Florida marijuana bills:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A House lawmaker is sponsoring a bill to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/new-florida-bill-would-legalize-recreational-marijuana-and-end-monopolies-in-medical-cannabis-with-expanded-business-licensing\/\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">legalize recreational marijuana that also aims to break up what he calls \u201cmonopolies\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in the state\u2019s current medical cannabis program by revising the business licensing structure.<\/li>\n<li>Another representative\u2019s bill would\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/new-florida-bill-would-protect-medical-marijuana-patients-parental-rights-including-custody-and-visitation\/\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">protect the parental rights of medical cannabis patients<\/a>, preventing them from losing custody of their children for using their medicine in accordance with state law.<\/li>\n<li>Other legislation would also allow doctors to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/florida-gop-lawmaker-files-medical-marijuana-expansion-bill-allowing-patients-to-qualify-if-theyve-been-prescribed-opioids\/\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">recommend cannabis to any patient who has a condition for which they have been prescribed opioids<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>A senator is sponsoring a bill to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/medical-marijuana-home-cultivation-would-be-legalized-in-florida-under-senators-new-bill\/\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">legalize home cultivation of marijuana for registered medical cannabis patients<\/a>\u00a0in the state.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u2014<br \/>\nMarijuana Moment is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/marijuanamoment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9128 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Learn more about our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/marijuanamoment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.<br \/>\n\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, a\u00a0Florida campaign seeking to put marijuana legalization on the ballot is facing complications as it continues to litigate the status of its 2026 signature drive. Advocates are now asking the state Supreme Court to overturn officials\u2019 decision to invalidate tens of thousands of petitions they submitted.<\/p>\n<p>A new poll released this week shows that a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/florida-voters-support-marijuana-legalization-new-poll-shows-as-state-officials-defend-invalidation-of-ballot-signatures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">majority of Florida voters support legalizing cannabis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo courtesy of Max Jackson.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/florida-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-provide-discounted-medical-marijuana-cards-for-military-veterans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill To Provide Discounted Medical Marijuana Cards For Military Veterans<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<br \/>\n&#013;<br \/>\nRead More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marijuanamoment.net\/florida-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-provide-discounted-medical-marijuana-cards-for-military-veterans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill To Provide Discounted Medical Marijuana Cards For Military Veterans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill to significantly reduce the fee for military veterans to obtain medical marijuana registry identification cards. The measure from Reps. Susan Vald\u00e9s (R) and Michelle Salzman (R) was approved in a unanimous 113-0 vote on Wednesday. This comes after the proposal cleared<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/florida-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-provide-discounted-medical-marijuana-cards-for-military-veterans\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":85544,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85545,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85543\/revisions\/85545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}