Guest Blog: Patients Out of Time’s 30th Anniversary

Posted by on August 24, 2025

Celebrate with Us!

This year marks the 30^th Anniversary of Patients Out of Time! Following our mission to educate healthcare professionals and the public about the therapeutic use of cannabis, we will be presenting The Sixteenth National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics on September 14-16 in Charlottesville, VA. Our theme is Cannabis: From Prohibition to Recognition.

We decided on that theme in late 2024 because of the re-scheduling hearings supported by the Biden Administration. Unfortunately, it appears that we’ll have no forward movement under the Trump Administration, and in fact, it looks like we may be taking some steps backwards.

Like Americans for Safe Access, we support safe and legal access to cannabis, and our focus has been on education about the plant – not only for its therapeutic value, but also as an excellent food source and a healing plant for the environment. This conference brings together an interdisciplinary faculty to present the state-of-the-art research as well as the current mess of laws and regulations and discussions on how to keep moving forward. Check out the supporting organizations, including ASA, that support this important issue. Our conferences are not only known for quality education, but for the networking opportunities.

For background information, Patients Out of Time was formed after the closure of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program in 1992. The IND program provided federally grown cannabis to patients, but when the FDA was inundated with applications from patients with HIV/AIDS, the government chose to close the program and end access to new patients. They allowed the 15 patients who were receiving cannabis through the program to continue. By 1995, there were only 8 of those patients still alive and that was the catalyst for POT – we saw that the federal government was just hoping for the patients to die, so they didn’t have to admit they were actually providing some patients with medicine that the government declared to be forbidden under the Controlled Substances Act. We believed that we could help end the prohibition through education and that we had to offer continuing education credits to convince health care professionals to attend such an event. As a nurse, I believe that all healthcare providers have an ethical obligation to try to change any health policy that causes harm to patients, and once educated about the endocannabinoid system and science behind cannabis, we have no choice but to fight to end the prohibition.

To celebrate our 30^th Anniversary, Patients Out of Time has started a podcast series – The Road to 30 – which includes stories about past pioneers and interviews with current pioneers to tell our full story. We have the first two episodes up on our website, four more being edited, and more to come after that. I hope you’ll check them out to give you a history lesson from some of the history makers.

Ever since COVID, there has been a huge increase in virtual conferences over live events, due to potential health risks, but also due to the expense of going to a live event away from home. This is my call out to all ASA members to consider attending and/or somehow supporting our upcoming live conference.

This is a crucial time regarding the legal status of cannabis/hemp. We need to come together, to be current with the science, as well as the opposing politics, so that we can end this decades-long, cruel and unjust prohibition.

Please check out the agenda and speaker line-up via the QR code below or go directly to www.patientsoutoftime.com. We’ve got a stellar line-up to make this a truly historic event. Please share this info with your social media and contacts. The time for action is now, and this conference will give you the tools and connections you need to enhance your personal power.