ASA in the News
Geoffrey Marshall
Medical marijuana dispensary to open next month in Washington County - Americans for Safe Access
By Mike Lewis for the Herald-Mail
Patients of the dispensary will have free access to the Cannabis Care Certification Patient Education Program created by Americans for Safe Access Foundation.
Geoffrey Marshall
Coloradans can soon get medical marijuana in place of opioids - Americans for Safe Access
By Justin Windgerter for The Denver Post
Governor has signed bipartisan Senate Bill 13, which easily passed the General Assembly
Colorado doctors will soon be able to recommend medical marijuana to treat any condition they’ve been prescribing painkillers for.
Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed Senate Bill 13, bipartisan legislation that easily passed through the General Assembly. The new law, which is scheduled to go into effect Aug. 2, is a win for marijuana proponents although it concerns some addiction doctors.
“Even in states with flourishing nonmedical cannabis markets, it is important to remember that thousands of people count on cannabis as a medicine,” said David Mangone with Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana group. He predicts the bill will reduce opioid overdose deaths.
Geoffrey Marshall
WSU researchers team with Puyallup tribe on medicinal cannabis research - Americans for Safe Access
By Kip Hill for The Spokesman-Review
“This medicine has grown on people telling stories of how it helped them. We’re finally at that point where we need to actually put these stories into something quantitative, and look at the numbers and see how it really is affecting people.” -Debbie Churgai
Geoffrey Marshall
Steph Sherer President Of ICCI Makes The Case For Medical Cannabis (Part 1) - Americans for Safe Access
By Benjamin Liong Setiawan for Forbes
Medical cannabis is an area that has many question marks for some and for others has become an essential component of their medical treatment. I sat down with Steph Sherer, the Co-Founder and President of the International Cannabis and Cannabinoids Institute (ICCI), to help demystify medical marijuana and address some common misconceptions in this two-part series. Headquartered in Prague, ICCI is an international research and educational center for the advancement of cannabis and cannabinoid treatments. Sherer also founded Americans for Safe Access (ASA), which advocates on behalf of patients to ensure safe and legal access to medical cannabis.
Geoffrey Marshall
Music, Food, and High Times in DC at National Cannabis Festival on 4/20 - Americans for Safe Access
By Bill Barlow for Weedmaps News
David Mangone, the director of legislative affairs for the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, added that affordability remains an issue, and proposed that insurance companies reimburse patients for medicinal cannabis to avoid costs that approach $400 an ounce.
Geoffrey Marshall
Tell the FDA WTF Is Up with CBD (As Long as You Do It Nicely) - Americans for Safe Access
By Josh Jardine for The Stranger
I wish we could sway federal policy with patient stories—and, to a degree, we can on Capitol Hill—but with a regulatory body like the FDA, they’re looking for very specific answers to very specific questions. It’s not like an up/down vote on how many comments in favor and how many comments against [CBD products]. It’s based off the quality and content of the comments.” -David Mangone
Geoffrey Marshall
Equity programs coming soon? - Americans for Safe Access
Lara McCaffrey for San Diego City Beat
Terrie Best, San Diego chapter chair of Americans for Safe Access (which works to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis), notes there aren’t any legal dispensaries in communities where residents have been most affected by the war on drugs. This includes District 4, the area encompassing Rolando Park to Paradise Hills and Lincoln Park to Greater Skyline Hills.
“These people can’t even get safe access in their own neighborhoods,” says Best. “As far as funneling money into neighborhoods, and equity and education programs, for folks who have suffered from drug war harm, I would say that’s warranted and will only make us a stronger and a better community and city.”
Geoffrey Marshall
ASA Reacts To Committee Passage Of SAFE Banking Act - Americans for Safe Access
By Johnny Green for Weed News
On March 28, the House Financial Services Committee voted in favor of the Secure And Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2019. The bill would create protections for depository institutions that provide financial services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses, their service providers, and some ancillary businesses, thereby granting state-legal cannabis-related businesses access to the same financial institutions and services upon which other types of business rely. “A vote in the full House has yet to be scheduled, but it is our hope that the bill will make it to the floor relatively quickly,” said Americans for Safe Access (ASA) President and Founder Steph Sherer. Earlier this week, Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), chair of the House Rules Committee, stated “We will guide it to the House floor for a vote, which I think it will pass with an overwhelming vote — Democrats and a lot of Republicans as well. […] I think if we have a strong bipartisan vote, that’ll increase the pressure on the Senate to do something.”
Geoffrey Marshall
Alabama medical marijuana bill would allow cannabis treatment for 33 conditions - Americans for Safe Access
By Brian Lyman for the Montgomery Advertiser
"I think states in the Southeast are starting to understand this is not an east coast/west coast issue, but are adapting the issue to policies and realities in their particular states.” - David Mangone
Geoffrey Marshall
Victory for Cathy Jordan, ‘patron saint’ of Florida medical marijuana - Americans for Safe Access
By Zac Anderson for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Her confidence and persistence are big reasons patients can now smoke cannabis.
Cathy Jordan had just finished dinner and was sitting in her Parrish home one evening last week when her attorney called.
“He said: ‘Well, Cathy, the governor signed the bill. We won,’” Jordan said as she recounted how she learned that smoking medical marijuana was legal in Florida.
After 22 years as one of the leading advocates for medical marijuana in Florida, Jordan finally could claim victory. She never doubted the day would come.
“I always knew we were going to win,” she said.
State Advocacy Resources
