The 2026 Patient Voice Award Nominees

Medical cannabis patients and caregivers encounter the effects of laws, healthcare practices, product standards, and regulatory decisions in their daily lives. Their experiences can reveal barriers to treatment, gaps in reliable information, and protections that do not work as intended. Yet patients are often underrepresented in the settings where those decisions are made or reviewed. Their involvement is essential to understanding whether policies and safety systems meet real-world needs.

The Patient Voice Award honors individuals who bring patient experiences, needs, and concerns into healthcare, research, education, public policy, and regulatory decision-making. The award recognizes patients, caregivers, clinicians, educators, and advocates who help others navigate medical cannabis systems while ensuring that lived experience informs institutional decisions. Their contributions may include direct assistance, professional education, testimony, research participation, legislative advocacy, or efforts to improve relationships between patients and the professionals and agencies responsible for their care.

The 2026 nominees, Shonda Broom, Angela S. Weston, Clifton Otto, Jan Morton, Nyomi Barrick-Womack, Stephanie Davis, and Michelle Zang demonstrate the many ways individuals can amplify patient concerns. Their work spans clinical education, advocacy, community support, research, regulatory accountability, and policy reform. Together, their contributions reinforce the principle that patients should be active participants in shaping cannabis medicine, not simply recipients of decisions made on their behalf. Patient voices are essential to developing healthcare practices and public policies that are informed, accountable, and responsive to real-world needs.

Learn more about the Patient Voice Award and the nominees' role in Cannabis Safety.