Nation’s Largest Medical Cannabis Organization Hosting Editorial Board/Press Briefing
Americans for Safe Access
Medical Cannabis State of the States Report
Group Issues Report Analyzing Every Medical Cannabis Program in the Country
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, February 21, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- RSVP
Who: Editors and reporters (RSVP to receive an embargoed copy)
What: Editorial board/press briefing on Americans for Safe Access’ “State of the States Report: An Analysis of Medical Cannabis Access in the United States”
When: February 22, 2022 at 1 pm ET / 10 am PT
Where: Online via Zoom
Why: ASA will share details about the latest developments in medical cannabis, discuss barriers to access, and suggest ideas to navigate medical cannabis policy in the U.S.
Agenda:
Steph Sherer, ASA Founder and President
Representative Chris Rabb, Pennsylvania State Representative
Nikki Lawley - Medical Cannabis Patient and Advocate
Abbey Roudebush, ASA Government Affairs Director
On February 22, 2022 at 1 pm ET / 10 am PT, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) will hold an editorial board meeting regarding its “State of the States Report: An Analysis of Medical Cannabis Access in the United States for 2021”.
The report provides a detailed analysis of medical cannabis programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories, and provides policymakers and regulators with concrete actions to be taken in their state to better serve patient populations presented in a report card format. This year's report scores states in over 100 categories and places more emphasis on patient rights, social and health equity, affordability, consumer protections and product safety.
Most media coverage of cannabis focuses on the business side, often conveying a message of success and paraphrasing the impact of federal prohibition to banking hurdles and changes in tax codes. In state houses, this results in limiting access and, in many states, scaling back medical cannabis programs to bring more profits through taxation in adult use programs.
This year, as was similar to last year, we continue to see a decline in states improving laws and regulations that help or protect patient access to medical cannabis, which still leaves millions with no hope for access. This reality underscores the need for a renewed commitment to patients that includes not only improved state laws, but also comprehensive federal legislation.
Unfortunately, medical cannabis remains illegal federally, keeping these treatments out of reach for millions of Americans. The issue and the businesses that serve patients have hit a developmental plateau, stopping short of becoming medicine by locking into a perpetual state of “Compassionate Use”.
The state-by-state compassionate use model leaves out those patients living in states reluctant to pass medical cannabis laws, federal employees and contractors, and veterans utilizing VA medical services. In states with medical cannabis laws, this model does not address many medical or logistical needs for patients, only serving a privileged class of Americans. On the logistics side, there are deserts of access points, traveling state to state is challenging if not impossible, many private companies still drug test for cannabis, and the cost of paying for a medication is prohibitive for many. On the medical side, many doctors are still hesitant to recommend cannabis, health insurance doesn’t cover cannabis, few cannabis products are standardized or consistently available, and little to no research is being done to back efficacy claims.
At the editorial board/press briefing, ASA will share details about the latest developments in medical cannabis, discuss barriers to access, and suggest ideas to navigate national medical cannabis policy.
About Americans for Safe Access
The mission of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis (marijuana) for therapeutic use and research.
ASA was founded in 2002 by medical cannabis patient Steph Sherer as a vehicle for patients to advocate for the acceptance of cannabis as medicine. With over 150,000 supporters in all 50 states, ASA is the largest national organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists, and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to overcome political, social, and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, research, grassroots empowerment, advocacy, and services for patients, governments, medical professionals, and medical cannabis providers.
Reenal Doshi
Americans for Safe Access
+1 202-618-6972
Reenal@safeaccessnow.org
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