The Legitimate Use of Medicinal Marijuana Act Introduced in US Congress

As reported by the Washington Post and various other news sources, Virginia Representative Morgan Griffith introduced a bill in the United States Congress yesterday called “The Legitimate Use of Medicinal Marijuana Act”.

With states like Florida recently legalizing marijuana for strictly medical use, this is a serious federal move to get marijuana recognized for the incredible and 100% proven medical benefits it can have to those who seriously need it.

Interestingly, Rep. Griffith is a conservative Republican, a group that isn’t typically pro-marijuana, for any reason. But the angle is that this bill is a “conservative” approach to getting people with medical needs access to marijuana.

“It’s conservative because we’re saying to the government, ‘You’re out of line here, step aside and let us treat people.’” It is Rep. Griffith’s hope that eventually Medicaid and Medicare will cover medical marijuana.”

As quoted on US News: “I think if it’s a prescribed drug, they’re going to pay for it.”

Federally controlled Medicaid programs do not cover medical marijuana, as it remains a schedule I drug. With any luck, this bill being introduced will begin the (long-over due) larger conversation on the national level about how marijuana, especially for medical purposes, needs to be legally reexamined.

It’s a long shot, but here’s to hoping that it might just get some real attention.

Rep. Griffith gets it.