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As part of Cannabis Safety Month 2026, the American Cannabis Nurses Association policy committee was pleased to host Steph Sherer, Founder and Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access, for a presentation on the new federal medical cannabis framework and what these changes may mean for patients, nurses, healthcare professionals, and healthcare institutions.

The presentation focused on an important reality: changing federal law is only the first step. The practical impact of those changes will depend on how hospitals, clinics, employers, housing providers, veterans’ services, long-term care facilities, federal agencies, and other institutions update their policies and practices.

On April 28, 2026, the Department of Justice issued AG Order No. 6754 2026, creating a new federal framework for certain medical cannabis products and recognizing the role of qualifying state medical cannabis programs within that framework.

For nurses, this is not simply a question of cannabis scheduling. It is a question of how changing federal policy may affect patient care, institutional policies, reasonable accommodations, medical decision-making, and the way patients who participate in state medical cannabis programs are treated across healthcare systems.

Why These Changes are Important to Nurses

Nurses often sit at the intersection of institutional policy and patient care.

Nurses review medications, prepare patients for procedures, support discharge planning, identify possible drug interactions, work with patients in hospitals and long-term care settings, and help coordinate treatment across multiple providers. They may also be among the first healthcare professionals to encounter situations in which an outdated cannabis policy conflicts with a patient’s medical needs or participation in a state medical cannabis program.

During the presentation, Sherer discussed ASA’s position that decisions affecting medical cannabis patients should move away from automatic exclusion and toward individualized assessment, reasonable accommodation, patient safety, clinical judgment, evidence of actual impairment, and documented risk.

This approach is particularly relevant in healthcare, where a blanket policy may not account for a patient’s condition, treatment history, medical cannabis authorization, other medications, or individual clinical circumstances.

Federal Change Does Not Mean Every Policy Has Changed

One of the most important messages from the presentation was that a change in federal law does not automatically change every federal, state, institutional, or workplace policy.

ASA’s presentation emphasized the need for additional federal guidance and policy review in areas including healthcare, housing, employment, veterans’ care, federal workplaces, military systems, and federally funded programs. The new federal framework also does not eliminate every restriction related to cannabis. It does not automatically revise every existing institutional policy or create a universal right to possess or consume cannabis in every setting.

For nurses and healthcare institutions, that makes education especially important. Policies should be reviewed carefully to determine whether they are based on current law, current clinical evidence, legitimate patient safety concerns, or assumptions that were developed under an older federal framework.

Supporting Patients Through a Changing Legal Landscape

Americans for Safe Access has developed a new Patient & Caregiver Guide to New Cannabis Laws to help patients understand federal changes and navigate situations where existing policies may not yet reflect them.

The guide encourages patients to keep current medical cannabis documentation, understand their state program requirements, request reasonable accommodations or individualized review when appropriate, ask for policies and adverse decisions in writing, and document situations in which they believe an outdated policy may be affecting their care or access. The presentation also highlighted areas in which medical cannabis patients have historically encountered barriers, including healthcare, employment, housing, veterans’ services, disability accommodations, and federally funded programs.

For nurses, understanding these concerns can help support more informed conversations with patients and more thoughtful review of institutional policies.

Cannabis Safety Requires Open and Accurate Conversations

The presentation was offered as part of Cannabis Safety Month, an initiative focused on addressing legitimate cannabis safety concerns with credible information, practical tools, and meaningful discussion. The campaign is examining health risks, drug interactions, vulnerable populations, impairment, product contamination, potency, labeling, youth access, and gaps in public information and policy. Nurses encounter these issues in real clinical settings.

Patients need accurate information about possible risks and benefits. They need to be able to discuss cannabis openly with their healthcare professionals. Nurses and other clinicians need enough information to consider cannabis alongside prescription medications, medical conditions, procedures, and other factors affecting patient care. Fear of judgment can interfere with those conversations. At the same time, supporting patients does not require minimizing legitimate safety concerns. Effective cannabis care depends on being able to discuss benefits, risks, uncertainty, drug interactions, impairment, product quality, and individual patient circumstances honestly.

Nurses Have an Important Role in What Comes Next

Federal policy is changing faster than many institutional policies. That creates both challenges and opportunities for nurses. Healthcare professionals can help by asking whether current policies reflect current law, encouraging individualized clinical review, identifying policies that may create unintended barriers to care, and supporting conversations about medical cannabis that are based on patient safety and evidence rather than stigma.

The goal is not to remove appropriate safeguards. It is to ensure those safeguards reflect current information and the circumstances of the individual patient.

ACNA appreciates Steph Sherer and Americans for Safe Access for sharing this important update with our community during Cannabis Safety Month.

To learn more about ASA’s End Medical Cannabis Patient Discrimination Campaign and ASA's patient & Caregiver resources: 

Watch the presentation: https://youtu.be/VMadNb4iTHw

Would you like ASA to present this information to your group, committee, professional association, healthcare system, or organization? Please contact Steph Sherer at [email protected].