ASA in the News
Geoffrey Marshall
Ohio rules for medical pot growers bring access questions - Americans for Safe Access
By the Associated Press for Fox 8 Cleveland
“The most genuine answer that anyone can give about Ohio’s program is that this has never been done before, so we don’t know if it will work, or serve patients. So patients will just have to wait and see.” - Dr. Jahan Marcu
Geoffrey Marshall
Marijuana industry braces for clash with Trump administration - Americans for Safe Access
By Mary Paige Nesfeder for Fox News
“I think that we have a lot of new champions this year that I think are really going to push this issue and end the federal conflict once and for all,” - Steph Sherer
Geoffrey Marshall
Medical marijuana advocates to host lobbying day - Americans for Safe Access
By Tim Devaney for The Hill
Medical marijuana advocates will descend on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
The advocates are in town for the National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference, which culminates in a lobbying day next week.
Geoffrey Marshall
IS CANNABIS A POTENTIAL PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT? - Americans for Safe Access
Without Proper Testing and Training It Could Be
By David Hodes for Dope Magazine
“Some of the information on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) website is 30 or 40 years old,. I don’t know about your health policy, but I prefer mine to be based on policy that is younger than me.” - Jahan Marcu
Geoffrey Marshall
Why New Jersey’s medical marijuana gets a ‘C’ grade - Americans for Safe Access
By David Matthau for New Jersey 101.5
"What we’re finding is that in states that have medical cannabis programs that allow recommendations for chronic pain, we’re actually seeing a drop in opioid deaths by as much as 25 percent." - Steph Sherer
Geoffrey Marshall
City Council Approves Creation Of Cannabis Licensing Commission - Americans for Safe Access
By Julia Wick for LAist
"We're really pleased that they've created the commission. I think it will work better for the city to have this distinct commission, rather than tasking already overburdened agencies with a huge new program." - Sarah Armstrong
Geoffrey Marshall
Sessions rips medical marijuana - Americans for Safe Access
By Daniel M. Jiminez for the Record-Bee
“Statements like these from the Attorney General are factually inaccurate. Sessions needs to stop spreading unfounded, unscientific theories about medical marijuana and take the time to actually meet the millions of Americans that are benefiting from its use before making comments about it being over-hyped.” - Steph Sherer
Geoffrey Marshall
Map: How do state medical marijuana laws compare? Advocates give report card - Americans for Safe Access
By Alicia Wallace and Polly Washburn for The Cannabist
The majority of U.S. states now have a medical marijuana law in place, but the laws don’t yet go far enough, a national medical marijuana patient advocacy group says.
Americans for Safe Access recently released the latest iteration of its “Medical Marijuana Access in the United States” annual report card, in which the organization conducts a state-by-state analysis of medical marijuana laws and programs.
Geoffrey Marshall
Medical pot group gives California ‘B+’ on access report card - Americans for Safe Access
By Todd R. Hansen for the Daily Republic
FAIRFIELD — California, one of the original eight states to legalize medical cannabis use, received a “B+” in the 2017 annual report by Americans for Safe Access.
Overall, the organization said there is still a lot of work to do, as none of the 44 states that allow medical marijuana use received an “A” grade. However, the number of states receiving a “B” or higher went from 11 to 19.
“Medical cannabis laws are moving in a positive direction, but only a handful of the 44 medical cannabis states are truly meeting the needs of patients, and there are still six states where cannabis remains completely illegal for patients,” Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, said in a statement released with the annual report.
Geoffrey Marshall
Americans for Safe Access Grades State Medical Marijuana Laws - Americans for Safe Access
By Carl Wellstone for Weed News
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) have been at the forefront of the movement to implement sensible cannabis laws that benefit patients battling severe and debilitating medical conditions since the organization was founded in 2002. Led by a great advocate, Steph Sherer, ASA now has over 30,000 members in with chapters in forty different states. The Washington DC-based organization has been instrumental in progress we have seen at the federal level, such as the introduction of the bipartisan CARERS Act last session. With as much knowledge on medical cannabis policy as any group, ASA has just released its report of state medical marijuana laws and it is an interesting read that illustrates the patchwork of laws across the nation and provides a grade based upon a variety of factors.
State Advocacy Resources
