🔍 Side-by-Side Mapping: Rico’s Veteran Blueprint vs. the 2025 MORE Act 
1. Veteran Voice & Stakeholder Inclusion
Your Blueprint (2020–present):

Veterans as a distinct stakeholder group.
You personally carried veterans’ concerns to the Cannabis Caucus.
Called for veterans to be recognized as federal patients with uniform protections.
Proposed chartering new VSOs centered on cannabis.

MORE Act:

Mentions veterans only as commenters and in the context of PTSD treatment.
No recognition of veterans as a distinct federal patient class.
No structural policy response (like VSOs, ID protections, or federal patient uniformity).

➡️ Gap: MORE Act acknowledges veteran suffering but does not institutionalize their voice.

2. Suicide Prevention & Harm Reduction
Your Blueprint:

Cannabis framed as harm reduction for suicide prevention and pharma dependence.
Suggested repurposing VA Substance Use Disorder ($922M in 2022) funds toward cannabis + Whole Health.

MORE Act:

Notes cannabis has medical utility for chronic pain, nausea, and some psychiatric conditions.
Cites mixed evidence on PTSD, with VA studies referenced.
No mention of suicide or cannabis’ role in harm reduction.

➡️ Gap: MORE Act sidesteps suicide risk even though it’s central to veterans’ cannabis use case.

3. VA & DoD Integration
Your Blueprint:

Expand VA Choice Act → cover cannabis.
Apply HOPE Act/UCMJ reforms to military personnel.
VA–DoD joint ventures should treat cannabis as part of federal patient care.
Recognize veterans as federal patients → laws applied uniformly across states.

MORE Act:

No mention of VA, DoD, or military personnel.
Framed as broad cannabis reform, but ignores federal patient obligations for veterans.

➡️ Gap: MORE Act stops at “cannabis has medical use” but doesn’t address how federal systems (VA/DoD) should deliver it.

4. Compassionate IND Program
Your Blueprint:

Expand Compassionate IND through VA & HHS.
Release data since 1976 (safety/efficacy).
Provide federal patient IDs, protections, vouchers, and home cultivation.

MORE Act:

References “substantial history of medical use” including federal IND patients but keeps discussion narrow.
No proposal to expand IND.
No transparency commitment (e.g., release of VA Directive 1315 or IND data).

➡️ Gap: MORE Act acknowledges IND but doesn’t build a bridge between IND and veterans’ access.

5. State-Level Programs for Veterans
Your Blueprint:

Create state templates for cannabis + veterans.
Incentives (fee waivers, job placement, licensing preferences).
Transition VFW/Legion posts into cannabis compassion centers.
Protections for markets, donations, and mutual aid within veteran circles.

MORE Act:

Entirely silent on veterans in state cannabis programs.
Defers state-level implementation without tailoring veteran protections.

➡️ Gap: MORE Act punts veterans’ needs to the states, missing the federal-patient argument.

⚖️ Bottom Line

MORE Act: Broad reform vehicle, but treats veterans only as PTSD patients and commenters.

Your Blueprint: A veteran-centered framework — spanning VA/DoD, suicide prevention, harm reduction, IND expansion, state-level protections, and the creation of new VSOs.

👉 The two overlap only at the PTSD use case and IND acknowledgment. Everywhere else, the MORE Act is thin, surface-level, and blind to federal patient obligations that your proposals target head-on.