Veterans who qualify for Connecticut’s medical marijuana program might soon find the cost of their state fees waived under recently proposed legislation.
Senate Bill No. 225, also referred to as “An Act Waiving for Veterans Certain Fees for Prescribed Medical Marijuana,” would require Connecticut’s Commissioner of Consumer Protection to waive the registration and administration fees for veterans who qualify as patients under the state’s guidelines.
At 1 p.m. on Feb. 27, the Veterans Affairs Committee will hold a public hearing in Room 1C of the Legislative Office Building. Sign-up for the hearing will begin at noon in the First Floor Atrium.
S.B. 225 would repeal and replace specific verbiage within Sec. 21a-408D and require the Commissioner of Consumer Protection to waive the registration and administration fees for veterans registered as qualifying patients for the palliative use of marijuana.
Per S.B. 225: “No such fee shall be charged to a qualifying patient who is a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of section 27-103.”
Those wishing to participate in the public hearing will need to submit 25 copies of their written statement to the Committee’s staff ahead of the Feb. 27 hearing.
The first hour of the public hearing is reserved for legislators, constitutional officers, state agency heads and chief elected municipal officials. Public speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. The Committee encourages witnesses to submit their written statement and condense their oral testimony to a summary of that statement. SB 225 is the third item on the agenda.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs noted on their website that a review of existing scientific data indicates medicinal cannabis provides therapeutic relief for neuropathic pain and could mitigate spasticity associated with MS – but not post-traumatic stress disorder.