Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released its decision to keep cannabis in its current Schedule 1 status. This decision will have substantial implications for the two million patients that currently have access to medical cannabis and cannabis products under state laws. Schedule I status means that the DEA sees no accepted medical use of cannabis.  

The Controlled Substances Act requires an 8-Factor Analysis from the HHS upon which the DEA makes it determination for all scheduling, or rescheduling, decisions. Previous efforts to reschedule cannabis have also been blocked by the DEA, who remain the most steadfast in maintaining their opposition to cannabis reform under the Obama administration.

Pictured: Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg 

When the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) convenes in New York next Tuesday, delegates will be discussing global drug policy – including what to do about medical cannabis. This is a historic meeting, and the ramifications for national and international medical cannabis policy could be huge.

ASA would like to provide every delegate from the 180 nations represented with a groundbreaking report we prepared this year for the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.  The 91-page report, which was peer-reviewed at our annual conference in March, answers important scientific questions about medical cannabis, and outlines a pathway towards international reform.

Pictured: ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer and an international delegation from France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Jamaica delivering the report to the UNCND in March.

Help out by donating this week to get this report to every delegate at the UNGASS meeting. Our goal is to raise $5,000 to make it happen before next Tuesday!

ASA’s 4^th Annual National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference ended on Tuesday in Washington, DC, and we have already seen results in the national and international arena. We are going to make 2016 a historic year for medical cannabis, and we need your help to do it.

One of the most exciting parts of the conference was the preparation of a report for the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). Conference participants peer-reviewed the report on Sunday, and ASA submitted the 91-page report to CND on Monday morning. The report answers important scientific questions about medical cannabis, and outlines a pathway towards international reform.

Pictured: ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer and an international delegation from France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Jamaica delivering the report in Washington, DC.

You have an important job to do, if you are attending ASA’s National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference, March 18-22, at the Lowes Madison Hotel in Washington, DC. We will be finalizing a document at the conference that will be submitted to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).  

The CND meeting in Vienna coincides with the ASA Unity Conference this year. Unity Conference participants will have the opportunity to weigh in on this review document on Sunday March 20^th in special stakeholder meetings. Allies within the CND will be calling on the CND, WHO, and UNGASS to use this Critical Review Preparation Document as a stepping-stone to move international cannabis policy forward. 

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has just agreed to co-sponsor the CARERS Act. This is a big development and just days before Americans for Safe Access (ASA) brings hundreds of citizen advocates to the Capitol as part of our 4th Annual National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference. As a result, participants will have more momentum when asking their representatives in Congress to pass the CARERS Act, the first comprehensive medical cannabis reform bill in Congress.

The passage of the CARERS Act  would allow state medical marijuana programs to continue without federal interference, move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Controlled Substance Schedule, remove the marijuana compound Cannabidiol (CBD) entirely from the schedule, create access to banking services for marijuana businesses in legal states, eliminate the DEA-mandated “NIDA-monopoly” that prevents researchers from obtaining marijuana for clinical studies, and allow Veterans Health Administration physicians to write recommendations in states that have established a medical marijuana program. 

Senator Graham’s support is a huge victory for patients and advocates and would not have happened without the tireless work of patient advocates like you! We need to build on this momentum and pass CARERS this year! 

(Washington, DC) - Yesterday, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) joined the bipartisan Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act (S. 683) as a co-sponsor. The support of Senator Graham coincides with the one-year anniversary of the bill’s introduction by Senators Cory Booker (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Rand Paul (R-KY).  The CARERS Act is the most comprehensive piece of medical cannabis legislation ever introduced in the U.S. Congress and would remedy the state-federal conflict over medical cannabis law.

“Graham’s support of CARERS Act is a significant step for patients” said Americans for Safe Access Executive Director, Steph Sherer. “This development should finally compel fellow Republican and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley to allow the bill a vote. This is the only way to respect the 40 states that have laws recognizing medical use and the more than 80% of voters who support it.”

Contents (Scroll down for details and links):

News

• National
• California
• Local

Events

• March 18-22, 2016 – Early Bird Registration: National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference (Washington, DC)

Court Support

• September 2, 2015 – Court Support for Heather Blackwood (Riverside)
• September 2, 2015 – Court Support for Jeffery and Andrea Sarbak (Pleasanton)
• More

Take Action Now

• Oppose AB 243 in the California Senate (California)
• Medical Marijuana: A Patient Survey (California)

ASA Website Spotlight

• National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference 2016
• ASA-CCSA Email Discussion List

Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• September 1, 2015 - San Francisco ASA (San Francisco)
• September 2, 2015 – Brownie Mary Democratic Club of Riverside County (Riverside)
• September 3, 2015 - Sonoma ASA (Santa Rosa)

Contents (Scroll down for details and links):

News

• National
• California
• Local

Events

• August 26, 2015 - Improving Analysis and Quality Control of Cannabis Products Using Complementary Analytical Techniques (Online)
• August 26, 2015 – Assembly Appropriations Hearing on SB 643 (Sacramento)
• August 27, 2015 – Senate Appropriations Hearing on AB 243 and AB 266 (Sacramento)
• August 30, 2015 - 2nd Annual Sonoma Blossom Festival (Santa Rosa)
• March 18-22, 2016 - National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference (Washington, DC)

Court Support

• August 26, 2016 – Court Support for Levine (Oroville)
• More

Take Action Now

• Sign the Petition to Ask Your Representative and Senators to Sign on to the CARERS Act!  (National)
• 5 Things People Can Do to Help Create Safe Access (National)
• Medical Marijuana: A Patient Survey (California)

ASA Website Spotlight

• 2015 Legislation
• ASA-CCSA Email Discussion List

Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• August 25, 2015 - San Diego ASA (San Diego)
• August 27, 2015 – Sacramento ASA (Sacramento)

Contents (Scroll down for details and links):

News

• National
• California
• Local

Events

• August 26, 2015 - Improving Analysis and Quality Control of Cannabis Products Using Complementary Analytical Techniques (Online)
• August 30, 2015 - 2nd Annual Sonoma Blossom Festival (Santa Rosa)
• March 18-22, 2016 - National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference (Washington, DC)

Court Support

• August 21, 2015 – Court Support for Lynette Shaw (San Francisco)
• More

Take Action Now

• Sign the Petition to Ask Your Representative and Senators to Sign on to the CARERS Act!  (National)
• 5 Things People Can Do to Help Create Safe Access (National)
• Medical Marijuana: A Patient Survey (California)

ASA Website Spotlight

• Vote Medical Marijuana
• The Truth About Medical Marijuana

Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• August 18, 2015 - Nevada County ASA (Grass Valley)
• August 18, 2015 - San Francisco ASA (San Francisco)
• August 19, 2015 - East Bay ASA (Berkeley)
• August 19, 2015 - Lake County ASA (Clearlake Oaks)
• August 23, 2015 - Nevada County ASA (North San Juan)

Join me for another live Google Hangout tomorrow night at 8:00 PM PT. We will be talking about what pending medical cannabis legislation does and does not mean for patients and providers in California. You can be a part of he conversation by logging on to “The Truth About Medical Cannabis: Regulations in California.”

Get more details about the Google Hangout below; plus medical cannabis news, events, court support requests, action alerts, and more in the California Weekly Roundup for Monday, July 27, 2015.

Contents (Scroll down for details and links):

News

• National
• California
• Local

Events

• July 28, 2015 - Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Meeting (Sacramento)
• July 28, 2015 – The Truth About Medical Cannabis: Regulations in California (Online)

Court Support

• July 27, 2015 – Court Support for James Morton (Oroville)
• July 29, 2015 – Court Support for Lance and Julie Stenhouse (Red Bluff)
• More

Take Action Now

• Sign the Petition to Ask Your Representative and Senators to Sign on to the CARERS Act!  (National)
• 5 Things People Can Do to Help Create Safe Access (National)
• Growing Medical Cannabis is Not a Waste (Sacramento County)

ASA Website Spotlight

• Provider Resources and Support

Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

• July 28, 2015 – San Diego ASA (San Diego)