Resources for Medical Cannabis Businesses

RESOURCES FOR MEDICAL CANNABIS BUSINESSES

Since 2002, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has been pioneering safe and legal medical cannabis access. As the nation’s largest coalition of medical cannabis, healthcare, and wellness stakeholders, ASA has driven groundbreaking initiatives—from establishing state distribution laws and safety standards to securing federal protections and shaping international drug policies. Our evidence-based advocacy has established cannabis’ accepted medical use—recently validated by HHS and DOJ—bringing us closer to a national medical cannabis program. ASA’s unwavering support for patient-serving businesses includes essential training and guidance to navigate evolving laws and regulations, preparing them for growth and stability as cannabis integrates into our healthcare systems.

When we founded ASA, approximately 11 underground cannabis collectives were providing for medical cannabis patients that were all operating outside state and federal laws and being targeted by the Bush Administration. At the time, there were no laws protecting cannabis businesses and the only medical cannabis laws in the country were criminal exemption laws that allowed patients to present a letter from their doctor to get the charges dropped if they were arrested.

ASA drafted and passed the first medical cannabis access laws in 2002 in cities in the Bay Area of California. ASA worked with medical cannabis businesses to prepare for federal raids, tracked federal interference, organized national protests around federal raids and prosecutions, and, in 2014, passed federal legislation stopping the raids, arrests, and prosecutions.

Since then, ASA has worked to pass legislation in all U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and most US territories and continues to work with states to improve programs and pass laws in new states and territories. In 2006, ASA opened an office in DC where we continue to advocate for a federal medical cannabis program.

In 2011, ASA teamed up with the American Herbal Products Association and the American Herbal Pharmacopeia to create product safety protocols for the medical cannabis supply chain. ASA developed the Patient-Focused Certification program to help cannabis businesses incorporate these protocols into their business policies and staff training.

ASA has created materials and resources for businesses to better serve patients, including educational materials such as booklets, videos, and webinars.

We hope you join us to continue our fight for safe access, sign up today to stay connected!

Until there is safe access…We are Americans for Safe Access!