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We hope you are enjoying your summer! ASA members and friends like you are always looking for ways to push the medical cannabis movement forward. That is why our staff has put together this fun list of things you can do this summer to make a real difference! Will you join our nationwide team of citizen advocates in helping out?  Here are 5 things you can do this summer to help safe access!

1. Host or Attend: Truth About Medical Marijuana Educational Series

Educate yourself and/or your community by attending or hosting a Truth About Medical Marijuana Workshop. The series includes three workshop sessions that you can host or attend locally. These workshops are designed to reach out to those who already support safe access as well as people who are not already involved. We’ll send you everything you need for a successful meeting, including a video, engagement materials, and a survey. Your help will build support for local, state, and national legislation like he CARERS Act. Sign up to host an educational workshop near you, by clicking here!

2. Engage with your Senators about the CARERS Act

During the month of August, members of Congress return to their home districts. This is a great time to schedule a meeting with Senators and/or their staff. For the first time ever, we have comprehensive medical marijuana legislation in both the U.S. House and Senate. The CARERS Act is bipartisan the most comprehensive piece of federal medical marijuana legislation ever introduced in the U.S. Congress.

Allowing state programs to continue without federal interference

• Moving marijuana out of Schedule I
• Removing CBD from the scheduling
• Creating access to banking services for legal marijuana businesses
• Ending the NIDA monopoly, that blocks research
• Allowing Veterans Affairs doctors to write recommendations in states that have a medical marijuana program

While we are gaining support for the CARERS Act, we still need YOUR help. Meetings with constituents are 6x more effective with elected officials than with lobbyists. Now that there is a bill in the Senate, your Senators need to hear from you! Meeting with elected officials is an important part of participating in our democracy and we want to make at easy for you as possible.

Even if you are unable to visit your Senate office.  Please take 5 minutes to call your Members of Congress and demand they support peace for patients.  You can access our pre-written scripts for both the House & Congress by clicking here. 

Below are some tools you can use to make your meeting successful or you can reach out to us for support at [email protected].

Locate Your Elected Officials ►► Click Here to Find Your Elected Officials

Get Educated ►► Click here to watch our online training videos & download of guide on how to successful meeting

About the CARERS Act ►► Click here to read our comprehensive analysis for the CARERS Act

3. Sign and Gather Signatures for the CARERS Act Petition

We need you to show your representatives that the nation is behind this legislation! Please support this effort by clicking here to sign the CARERS ACT petition today.  Urging your Senators and Representative to protect safe access and patients’ right by signing onto the CARERS Act.

You can help make real meaningful change by downloading the petition, gathering signatures, and sending them back to the ASA office. Engaging with even 10 people can make a huge difference! Click here to download our printable CARERS ACR petition. 

4. Become an ASA member

Membership matters! ASA is a grassroots organization, and most of our support comes from individual members. Your decision to become a member means ASA will have the resources we need to advocate with lawmakers, fight in court, support medical cannabis defendants, frame the national conversation about medical cannabis, and so much more.

ASA members are patients, caretakers, doctors, researchers, attorneys, medical professionals, providers and concerned community members who are helping to overcome barriers to safe and legal access to medical cannabis nationwide. ASA provides a patient-focused perspective on medical cannabis legislation and regulations. We strive to change state and federal laws to meet the needs of patients.

Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the nation’s leading medical cannabis patients’ advocacy organization. Our goal is to make medical cannabis legally available for everyone who needs it, and we need your help to make that happen! Do not sit on the sidelines.  Click here to become a member today!

5. Build the movement!

Help us continue to build on our momentum by printing 10 copies of our outreach poster and hanging them in your community. 85% of Americans support medical cannabis, but 1% are active participants in the conversation. Remind your neighbors, friends, and community that medical cannabis reform is not a guarantee — it needs your support to make it a reality. Click here to download our Outreach Poster.