ASA in the News
Geoffrey Marshall
U.S. universities boost cannabis courses, marijuana research - Americans for Safe Access
By Jean Lotus for UPI
"We're excited that universities are finally taking the steps to teach the medical profession about medical cannabis. Whether it's in the lab or manufacturing, cultivation or at a dispensary, it's so important to understand how to work safely in the cannabis business, especially if you're producing medicine." - Debbie Churgai
Geoffrey Marshall
This Missouri Mom Fought Hard For Medical Marijuana. Now She’s Fighting To Pay Its High Price. - Americans for Safe Access
By Alex Smith for KCUR 89.3
“It is a huge burden on patients,” said Debbie Churgai, interim director of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana patient advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.
A survey conducted by Americans for Safe Access found that nearly a third of patients across the country pay more than $500 a month for cannabis.
For many, the costs are simply too much. Churgai said that, after getting a green card, some patients end up buying marijuana on the black market, where it’s cheaper than in dispensaries. But it doesn’t undergo the careful testing that medical marijuana receives.
Geoffrey Marshall
A medical cannabis travel guide has been launched for Americans - Americans for Safe Access
A new medical cannabis travel guide has been launched for patients who use cannabis in the United States.
The Medical Cannabis Patient’s Guide for US Travel has been launched by medical cannabis campaign group Americans for Safe Access. The guide intends to help travelling patients understand the laws regarding access to cannabis in the states and territories that extend reciprocity to patients from other jurisdictions or permit the adult use of cannabis.
The guide provides patients with a clear sense of how to obtain medical cannabis while travelling outside of their home jurisdictions, as well as containing helpful tips for patients to regarding cannabis and different American states.
Geoffrey Marshall
Medical marijuana patients can face problems in other states - Americans for Safe Access
By Jean Lotus for UPI
Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Medical marijuana has been legalized in 33 U.S. states, but for the almost 3 million patients who want to travel outside of their home state, laws elsewhere can be a confusing patchwork of differing rules.
To help clarify those rules, Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana patient advocacy group, has released an interactive safe travel guide for patients who want to acquire medicinal pot in different states across the country.
"The laws change so frequently that it's really important. if you're going to visit another state, to look up what the laws are for that state," said Debbie Churgai, the organization's interim director. For medical marijuana patients, "traveling can be a difficult undertaking," she said.
Geoffrey Marshall
Safe Travel Guide for Marijuana Users This Weekend - Americans for Safe Access
By Thomas Mitchell for Westword
Summer may be winding down, but Labor Day weekend is still a popular last hurrah for travelers and party-goers alike.
With the plant more culturally prevalent than ever, traveling cannabis consumers can find themselves in some confusing and troublesome situations — especially when they leave their safe little havens in California, Colorado, Oregon and the nine other states and territories where adult use is legal.
For some cannabis users, though, traveling to places where the plant is banned is more than just a buzzkill, warns Debbie Churgai, director of cannabis advocacy organization Americans for Safe Access.
Geoffrey Marshall
DEA Announces Plan To Promulgate Regulations For The Approval Of New Cannabis Cultivation Facility Licenses - Americans for Safe Access
By Johnny Green for WeedNews
“After years of inexcusable delay, the DEA has finally taken a small step forward in the potential licensing of new cannabis cultivation facilities for scientific research. ASA has urged reform in this area for over a decade, and we hope that the DEA will move expeditiously now that the framework of a plan for license application review has finally been made public.” - Steph Sherer
Geoffrey Marshall
New Medical Cannabis Patient’s Travel Guide by Americans for Safe Access is Available - Americans for Safe Access
By Jenni Jacobsen for Times of CBD
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) released a guide for patients taking medical cannabis. The guide relates to travel, so that patients can be aware of the laws concerning cannabis access.
There is a great deal of information in the guide, but one of the first section deals with things that medical cannabis patients should know before they travel. According to the guide, it is “important for patients to review the most up-to-date information for the jurisdiction(s) that they will be visiting, as laws and regulations are subject to change.” Another important point is that “it is important to remember that cannabis products cannot be taken out of the jurisdiction in which they were purchased.”
Geoffrey Marshall
Guide ‘emphasizes facts, not falsehoods’ about CBD use - Americans for Safe Access
By Janel Miller for Healio Primary Care
Americans for Safe Access recently issued the Patient’s Guide to CBD to provide background on cannabidiol and recommendations regarding its dosing and handling.
The Americans for Safe Access is an organization consisting of medical professionals, scientists, patients and others who promote safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research, according to the guide. Researchers used data gleaned from nearly 100 journal articles, committee opinions and websites to come up with the guide’s contents.
Geoffrey Marshall
How Does Your State Rate for Medical Marijuana in 2019? - Americans for Safe Access
By David Downs for Leafly
Sorry, Texas.
The world’s leading medical cannabis patient advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), reports that residents of the Pacific island territory of Guam have better options to treat chronic pain and other ailments than their fellow Americans in Texas and the Southeast. That’s according to ASA’s 2019 State of the States Report, an annual evaluation published recently.
ASA aims the report at lawmakers each year, prodding them to make progress relative to their neighbors. Each US state and territory gets a grade, yielding an annual map of unequal protection for 126 million Americans with chronic pain, which is cannabis’ number one qualifying condition.
On the positive side, we’re seeing medical cannabis deployed against the opioid epidemic in Illinois (A-), New York (B-), and California (B+). Oklahoma, Ohio, and Florida all made heartening progress—two Bs and a C (up from Fs in 2015).
That contrasts with the frustrating stasis happening in Texas and throughout the Southeast—all of which got Fs. Guam got a C, by the way.
Geoffrey Marshall
Do People Move to Access Legal Marijuana? Yes — Meet 'Medical Refugees.' - Americans for Safe Access
By Juliet Bennet Rylah for Weedmaps News
According to American Medical Refugees board member Sebastien Cotte, the organization helped about 400 families in some way midway through 2018, up from about 150 two years earlier, according to media reports. These families had moved to Colorado from more than 35 states and three countries.
Cotte and his wife Annett know well what these families face. Their son, Jagger, has Leigh syndrome, a neurometabolic disorder that manifests in seizures, muscle pain, difficulty breathing, and other symptoms. Cotte became interested in cannabis as a possible treatment for his son in 2013, after seeing “Weed,” Dr. Sanjay Gupta's documentary about medical cannabis, on CNN. He connected with other parents in Georgia through medical cannabis advocacy organization Americans for Safe Access, but their initial attempts to pass a bill legalizing medical marijuana in Georgia failed. In 2014, Cotte's family decided to move to Colorado. They were one of 17 families to leave Georgia at that time, many of them receiving financial aid from Republican state Rep. Allen Peake.
State Advocacy Resources
