Meet ASA's Featured Advocates

Mike Graglia, Palo Alto, California

William Dolphin | July 01, 2021

The seizures began when Tony was 3. After an initial diagnosis of epilepsy, Mike Graglia learned the next year that what his son has is a rare disease called Syngap that affects about 200 people in the U.S. Named for...

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Michelle Herman, Needham, Massachusetts

William Dolphin | June 01, 2021

Already the mother of a young son, Michelle Herman was excited to discover she was pregnant with a girl. She’d had a girl’s name, “Zoey,” picked out since she was 13. She had no way to know that her daughter...

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Philippe Lucas PhD, Victoria, Canada

William Dolphin | May 01, 2021

When Philippe Lucas got a hepatitis C diagnosis as a college student in 1995 he could not have imagined it would put him on a path to becoming a groundbreaking patient advocate and being named ASA’s 2021 Cannabis Researcher of...

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Nikki Lawley, Buffalo, New York

William Dolphin | April 02, 2021

It was just a routine vaccination. As a pediatric nurse, Nikki Lawley had done more than she could count, including with kids like this one, who really didn’t want the shot. But the child turned combative and suddenly headbutted her,...

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Katree Saunders, Las Vegas, Nevada

William Dolphin | March 01, 2021

For anyone who believes that passing adult-use laws fixes problems for patients, that medical cannabis use doesn’t get anyone in trouble, or that being a patient can’t cause problems for people, Katree Saunders is here to tell you different.

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Rep. Chris Rabb, Pennsylvania General Assembly

William Dolphin | February 01, 2021

Many elected officials have stepped forward to champion more sensible laws and policies that respect the experiences and needs of medical cannabis patients. Very few are willing to say that those laws and policies apply to them. Pennsylvania State Representative...

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Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli, Barcelona, Spain

William Dolphin | December 01, 2020

The major victory medical cannabis advocates won last month at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) was the result of long years of efforts by many advocates from around the world. One of the tireless champions of patient rights...

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Cherissa Jackson, Maryland

William Dolphin | November 03, 2020

In 2013, Capt. Cherissa Jackson, RN, retired from the U.S. Air Force after 23 years of service. Her fourth deployment had included a near-death experience in combat, so when the orders came for a fifth deployment, she decided it was...

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Doug Distasio, District of Columbia

William Dolphin | October 01, 2020

Lt. Col. (ret.) Doug Distasio had his Air Force career upended by an aircraft accident in 2014. The host of injuries, including back, neck and head trauma, entailed a “bunch of stuff” he “wasn’t ready to deal with.” 

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Marvin Washington, New Jersey

William Dolphin | September 01, 2020

When Marvin Washington retired from the NFL in 1999 after 11 seasons with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, he wasn’t thinking about cannabis. The financial industry was where he was headed. Fifteen years later, in 2014, he got...

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