By Dan Kingston for AZmarijuana.com
“For 2022, ASA recommends that Arizona’s legislature protects patients’ stake in the existing market by creating a review board staffed by patients and physicians with independent regulatory control over medical cannabis operations in the state. Legislators should also allow telehealth practices for patient certification and renewals; many states made this popular measure permanent after temporarily allowing it as a pandemic safety measure. Finally, the state must take action to allow minors to medicate on school grounds, preferably with assistance from school staff such as a nurse.”
By Cara Wietstock for Ganjapreneur
There are currently 38 states in the US with THC-inclusive medical cannabis programs and only a handful of states where patients have no access to medical cannabis products. But when Steph Sherer founded Americans for Safe Access (ASA) in 2002, only eight states had medical cannabis programs and their primary focus was to provide patients with legal and safe access to cannabis medicine.
By Brittany Valentine for AL DÍA
In its 2021 State of the States Report, the California-based pro-cannabis advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access, Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana program received a C+ rating.
Compared with the rest of the nation, Pennsylvania’s score is lower than the average, and scored especially low in categories such as affordability, medicine access, as well as health and social equity.
One of the report’s main recommendations for the state is to allow patients to grow their own cannabis at home.
By Jordana Rosenfeld for Pittsburgh City Paper
According to patients, caregivers, and their advocates, Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program leaves a lot to be desired. The program got a C+ in a recent report by California-based advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, which examined nationwide access to medical weed. Pennsylvania’s score is a full letter grade lower than the national average, and the state scored particularly low in categories such as affordability, access to medicine, and health and social equity. One of the report’s main recommendations? Allow patients to grow weed at home.
By Margaret Jackson for MJBizDaily
Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana advocacy group based in Washington DC, advises businesses to “develop and enforce policies for checking all doors and windows before opening and after closing.”
In its recently released “Robbery Preparedness Guide,” the ASA also recommends that employees “check all hatches and vents after closing to make sure no one can enter the building.”
By Kyle Jaeger for Marijuana Moment
The proposal has been endorsed by mainstream medical organizations like American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Psychological Association and American Society of Addiction Medicine, as well as pro-legalization groups such as Americans for Safe Access, Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies and NORML.
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By Sven Hosford for Natural Awakenings Pittsburgh
According to [Debbie] Churgai, “Pennsylvania did well on patient rights and civil protections, with an 80 out of 100 score, which is pretty good compared to a lot of other states. And program functionality, which is about purchase limits, possession limits, telemedicine, caregiver standards, things like that. They did decently in consumer protection and product safety as well, where they got 148 out of 200. Pennsylvania is doing pretty good and they are making improvements. Every year they do try to improve the program. There are some great legislators who are really focusing on this.”
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By Terrie Best for OB Rag
In this era of social justice most non-profits who advocate for marginalized people began to look for the most vulnerable within the marginalized people they serve.
Illness societies would find their most in need are likely BIPOC and those living in poverty. All nonprofits should try to reach those people within who are less able to gather resources as successfully as others due to barriers of race, language or economics.
Over a decade ago, when the medical cannabis patient advocacy group I volunteer for, San Diego Americans for Safe Access, was pleading for access to medical cannabis and San Diego City and County were struggling to regulate medical cannabis retail outlets, SDASA should have looked at BIPOC and marginalized neighborhoods with much more care.
By Sanford Nowlin for the San Antonio Current
Earlier this year, Texas was one of 13 U.S. states and territories to land a failing grade on national medical cannabis advocacy group Americans for Safe Access' 2021 report card. Chief among the state's demerits were restrictive rules that had so far limited it to just two retailers, both located in Austin.
"State legislators should address this critical lack of access," the report noted. "For a state as large as Texas, two retailers in a single city won’t cover it, even with the registry as small as it is."
