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This September, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and partner organizations across the country will launch Cannabis Safety Month 2026, a national public education campaign designed to move the cannabis conversation from fear to facts and from political division toward practical solutions.

Cannabis safety has become one of the defining issues shaping the future of cannabis policy in the United States. Questions about product safety, youth access, accidental ingestion, impaired driving, health risks, labeling, potency, workplace policies, and responsible use are increasingly part of public and political debates about cannabis. Many of these concerns are legitimate questions shared by patients, parents, healthcare professionals, regulators, employers, educators, public health experts, policymakers, and responsible cannabis businesses.

Too often, however, those questions are left unanswered or reduced to competing slogans, leaving an opportunity for fear and misinformation to fill the space. Concerns about cannabis safety can then become political weapons used to justify policies that restrict cannabis programs, including access for patients who rely on cannabis as part of their healthcare.

Cannabis Safety Month is about reframing the conversation.

Throughout September 2026, ASA and our partners will bring together patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, regulators, educators, employers, community leaders, responsible cannabis businesses, and other stakeholders to examine difficult questions openly and constructively. Rather than dismissing concerns or amplifying fear, the campaign will focus on credible information, practical education, transparent standards, and solutions that reduce harm while protecting medical cannabis access.

Creating Space for Solutions

Public policy debates do not always leave much room for nuance. Cannabis Safety Month is designed to create the space those debates often lack: a place where people with different experiences and perspectives can acknowledge concerns, examine evidence, learn from one another, and work toward solutions.

Throughout the month, ASA and our partners will develop public education resources, national programming, professional briefings, media content, community engagement tools, local activities, and policy initiatives. We will showcase experts, programs, technologies, standards, and policies already addressing cannabis safety challenges while creating opportunities to identify solutions for those that remain. Just as importantly, the campaign will make room for people who may not traditionally see themselves as part of the cannabis conversation but whose expertise and experiences are essential to getting safety policy right.

Cannabis Safety Month will also feature the Best of 2026 Cannabis Safety Awards, recognizing the people, products, programs, campaigns, and tools moving cannabis safety forward. Public nominations will be open August 10–31, followed by finalist review and public voting throughout September. Winners will be announced September 30 as part of the Cannabis Safety Month Closing Roundtable & Awards, bringing the month to a close by recognizing leadership and innovation while looking ahead to the work still needed.

The goal is not to pretend that every question about cannabis has an easy answer. It is to demonstrate that difficult questions can be addressed responsibly and that improving cannabis safety does not require abandoning patients or reversing decades of progress.

Safety & Access are Intertwined 

For more than two decades, ASA’s donors, volunteers, partners, and sponsors have helped advance medical cannabis laws, regulations, product standards, and patient protections across the country. That progress cannot be taken for granted. As cannabis becomes increasingly integrated into American healthcare and society, the long-term future of medical cannabis access will depend in part on our ability to demonstrate that legitimate public concerns can be met with education, standards, accountability, and responsible policy.

Cannabis Safety Month will help make that case by separating fact from fiction, showcasing effective solutions, and bringing more voices into the conversation. By doing so, we can strengthen public confidence while advancing a healthcare-centered approach to cannabis policy that recognizes safety and patient access as goals that must move forward together.

ASA cannot build this campaign alone. We are inviting organizations, medical professionals, patients, parents, advocates, researchers, educators, businesses, media outlets, community leaders, and individuals to bring their expertise, experiences, audiences, and communities to Cannabis Safety Month.

Cannabis Safety Month Partners may contribute subject-matter expertise, public education, professional engagement, advocacy, speakers, local events, community outreach, resource distribution, media participation, or other mission-aligned support. ASA will provide campaign materials, partner tools, national coordination, educational resources, programming, and recognition, and no financial contribution is required to participate as a Cannabis Safety Month Partner.

We are also seeking sponsors and media partners who can help expand the campaign’s reach and impact. Financial support will allow ASA to develop public resources, national programming, professional briefings, local engagement tools, media content, policy initiatives, and educational materials that can continue serving communities long after September ends. Media partners can help bring these conversations to broader audiences through educational content, campaign coverage, interviews, moderated discussions, partner and sponsor profiles, and participation in national and local events.

Join Us August 12

If you want to be part of Cannabis Safety Month—as a volunteer, partner, media partner, sponsor, speaker, contributor, or community participant—join ASA for our Cannabis Safety Month organizing meeting on Wednesday, August 12 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

We will introduce the campaign, preview September activities and the Best of 2026 Cannabis Safety Awards, explain volunteer and partnership opportunities, discuss ways organizations and individuals can participate, and answer questions about sponsorship, media partnerships, local activities, outreach, and other ways to get involved.

Wednesday, August 12, 2026
8:00 p.m. ET
RSVP for the Cannabis Safety Month Meeting

Cannabis safety can no longer be addressed with slogans. Throughout September, Cannabis Safety Month will bring people together to ask difficult questions, share what we know, identify what we still need to learn, and highlight solutions that can make cannabis safer while protecting the future of medical cannabis access.

Join Cannabis Safety Month 2026 and help move the national cannabis conversation from fear to facts. Bring your expertise, your experience, your audience, and your community—and help us build an informed, inclusive national response that improves cannabis safety while protecting and advancing medical cannabis access.

Sponsor Cannabis Safety Month!