PAST BILL
FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) CBD Amendment For Military (2020)
PASSED January 18, 2022
Introduced by military veteran Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, an amendment to the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) stated that the “Secretary of Defense may not prohibit, on the basis of a product containing hemp or any ingredient derived from hemp, the possession, use, or consumption of such product by a member of the Armed Forces.”
The amendment would reverse the Department of Defense’s draconian policy that makes the use of hemp products by service members a crime—a policy that quietly came into effect in 2020. The amendment will also invalidate policies by the Army and Air Force that ban the use of hemp products and policies by the Navy and Marine Corps that limit acceptable use to topical products.
On July 20th, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the amendment to allow U.S. military personnel to use products containing hemp, including CBD.
Unfortunately, when the Senate passed its own version of the NDAA, it was silent on the CBD issue.
As of 2022, it remains against military regulations for members of the active duty military or currently serving members of the Guard or Reserve to use any CBD products. Currently, every military service branch has a regulation banning the use of CBD products.
For example, the Army regulation says “the use of products made or derived from hemp (as defined in 7 USC. 1639o) … regardless of the product’s THC concentration, claimed or actual, and regardless of whether such product may lawfully be bought, sold and used under the law applicable to civilians, is prohibited.” Read more from Military.com.
If there are any Americans who most deserve access to wellness products such as CBD, it’s our brave, selfless troops. The men and women who risk their lives for our freedoms should have the freedom to use quality, legal hemp products.
