- About About
-
Medical
Medical
Medical Patient Resources Becoming a State-Authorized Patient Talking to your doctor The Medical Cannabis Patient’s Guide for U.S. Travel Patient's Guide to CBD Patient's Guide to Medical Cannabis Guide to Using Medical Cannabis Condition-based Booklets Growing Cannabis Cannabis Tincture, Salve, Butter and Oil Recipes Leaf411 Affordability Program Tracking Treatment & Gathering Data with Releaf App Medical Professional Resources CME for Medical Professionals Cannabis Safety Medical Cannabis Research
- Legal Legal
-
Advocacy
Advocacy
Advocacy ASA Chapters Start an ASA Chapter Take Action Campaigns No Patient Left Behind End Pain, Not Lives Vote Medical Marijuana Medical Cannabis Advocate's Training Center Resources for Tabling and Lobby Days Strategic Planning Civics 101 Strategic Messaging Citizen Lobbying Participating in Implementation Movement Building Organizing a Demonstration Organizing Turnout for Civic Meetings Public Speaking Media 101 Patient's History of Medical Cannabis
-
Policy
Policy
Policy Model Federal Legislation Download Ending The Federal Conflict Public Comments by ASA Industry Standards Guide to Regulating Industry Standards Recognizing Science using the Data Quality Act Fact Sheet on ASA's Data Quality Act Petition to HHS Data Quality Act Briefs ASA Data Quality Act petition to HHS Information on Lawyers and Named Patients in the Data Quality Act Lawsuit Reports 2020 State of the States Medical Cannabis Access for Pain Treatment Medical Cannabis in America
- Join Join
-
-
U.S. Medical Marijuana States Report Card Published
By Gillian Jalimnson for Hemp Gazette
46 U.S. states and three territories now have medical cannabis laws – and they vary greatly. In what must have been a monumental effort, Americans for Safe Access recently graded them all on a 500-point scale.
The states and territories were graded on five general categories, each worth 100 points:
- Patient Rights and Civil Protection
- Access to Medicine
- Ease of Navigation
- Functionality
- Consumer Safety and Provider Requirements
Criteria for scoring was based on a series of more than 100 public meetings across the U.S. as well as surveys of ASA’s 100,000+ members.
While no states received a A-grade, seven states received a B+ for their medical cannabis programs. At the other end of the grading scale, sixteen states received an “F”, all of which limited their programs to cannabidiol (CBD) – a non-psychoactive cannabinoid.
“We want lawmakers to use this report to see that there are gaps in their medical cannabis programs,” said Steph Sherer, Executive Director for Americans for Safe Access. “Even programs that have been around for decades like California still have room for improvement.”
The report, “Medical Marijuana Access in the United States: A Patient-Focused Analysis of the Patchwork of State Laws”, is a interesting read, but it should be kept in mind grading has been based on laws passed and regulations put into effect between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017. As you’ve probably seen here on HempGazette, further progress has been or is in the process of being made in various U.S. states so far during 2018.
ASA acknowledges this, stating “we expect that some of this information will be out of date as soon as ink hits paper”.
The report can be downloaded here (PDF). One of the very useful aspects of the document is an at-a-glance table indicating all the qualifying conditions for programs in all states with medical cannabis laws.
Next year’s report will contain a new category, “Opioid Response”.
While medical cannabis access has a long way to go in the USA – just as it has in many other countries – ASA is generally upbeat about the direction and progress seen in 2017.
“Despite every program needing improvements, and worrisome actions by the Justice Department, medical cannabis access is the strongest it has ever been,” says the organisation.
Share