ASA in the News
Geoffrey Marshall
Medical cannabis community must join together and resist any action taken against us - Americans for Safe Access
By Steph Sherer for The Hill
Yesterday, I awoke to the news that I have been fearing since Jeff Session was nominated as Attorney General, his Department of Justice is rescinding the non-interference cannabis policies from the Obama Administration, the 2013 Cole Memorandum. As I was trying to respond to the flood of texts and emails, I had to fight off flashbacks from events that plagued the first 13 years of my work at Americans for Safe Access.
Between 1996 and 2014, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted 528 paramilitary-style raids (270 occurring during the Obama administration), filed civil asset forfeiture actions against property owners, and used bullying tactics to dissuade state elected officials from adopting or implementing medical cannabis laws. For each of these actions, dozens of lives were ruined and thousands of patients lost their access to medical cannabis. This was at a time when only twelve states had medical cannabis access programs.
Geoffrey Marshall
Medical marijuana supporters worry in light of Sessions' guidance - Americans for Safe Access
By Jen Christensen for CNN
Geoffrey Marshall
Legal pot's future jeopardized - Americans for Safe Access
By Kyle Midura for KTUU 2
Advocates for medical marijuana patients and providers - like Steph Sherer with Americans for Safe Access - describe the protection as "a ceasefire." She said she hopes Sessions' move leads Congress to permanently offer the medical marijuana community protection, rather than renewing it every year.
Geoffrey Marshall
Colorado Senator fires back on DOJ pot policy change - Americans for Safe Access
By Kellie Meyer for GrayDC
“Many providers of cannabis products grow for both medical and recreational so it would be very difficult to for the DOJ to crack down without affecting patients," - Beth Collins
Geoffrey Marshall
Trump administration targets recreational pot, placing thousands of marijuana businesses in California at risk - Americans for Safe Access
By Evan Halper, Joseph Tanfani and Patrick McGreevy for the Los Angeles Times
Sarah Armstrong, director of industry affairs for Americans for Safe Access, which advocates for legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research, said the Justice Department announcement was “really very upsetting and scary for patients who don't know, when they walk in the door, if there's going to be a raid.”
Even a crackdown solely on recreational marijuana could jeopardize medical users, Armstrong said, because many dispensaries will be serving both patients and other customers.
Geoffrey Marshall
V.A. Releases New Policy on Medical Marijuana - Americans for Safe Access
By Danny Reed for mg Magazine
“This change in policy is a victory for veterans because it encourages open and honest conversations between V.A. doctors and veterans about cannabis use. The men and women who put their lives on the line for our country deserve the best care and a wide variety of treatments, including medical cannabis to help them recover from the injuries of war. With veterans suffering from PTSD, chronic pain, and a variety of other ailments, cannabis cannot be left out of the discussion as a safe and effective treatment." -Steph Sherer
Geoffrey Marshall
Cleaning up cannabis - Americans for Safe Access
Groups seek standards to ensure safety and quality
By Britt E. Erickson for Chemical & Engineering News
“We train both the industry and the inspectors that go into the facilities,” -Jahan Marcu, Ph.D.
Geoffrey Marshall
Most Cannabidiol Oils Sold Online Mislabeled - Americans for Safe Access
By Pat Anson for Pain News Network
“This is a wake up call for the CBD industry to standardize their products,” - Jahan Marcu, PhD
Geoffrey Marshall
The Real Risk of Buying Medical Marijuana Online - Americans for Safe Access
By Amanda MacMillan for Time
“The first step is ordering products from reputable sources or getting advice from other people you trust,” he says, “or getting products tested yourself in an independent lab.” (The group Patient Focused Certification can provide names of nearby facilities that will test CBD extracts, he says.) “Unfortunately, the onus is on the consumer to do the homework.” - Marcel Bonn-Miller, PhD
Geoffrey Marshall
'A very real danger': U.S. attorney general's views on marijuana create uncertainty over medical cannabis - Americans for Safe Access
By Waqas Chughtai for CBC News
"The prohibition ... is the only thing that limits the [DOJ] from engaging in federal prosecution of patients ... that stops [it] from conducting large-scale raids or bringing federal penalties for a lot of these patients."- David Mangone
State Advocacy Resources
