Blog

A letter from ASA Founder & President 

The positive impacts of medical cannabis on patients and the healthcare systems that serve them are profound and far-reaching. Today, cannabis-based therapies provide relief to over 6 million Americans registered in medical cannabis programs in 38 states, D.C., and four of the five U.S. territories, often serving as a crucial alternative when conventional treatments have failed or as a safer option compared to pharmaceuticals.

States have shown that medical cannabis programs enhance patient outcomes and alleviate burdens on the healthcare systems that serve them. However, state-level medical cannabis programs operate independently of the broader healthcare system and outside of federal laws and regulations, leaving behind veterans, federal employees, and patients who live in reluctant states or who can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs of these products, serving only a privileged class of Americans.

For over a decade, Congress has allowed medical cannabis programs to exist in a legal limbo, prohibiting federal agencies from interfering by enforcing federal cannabis laws. This solution shields patients and providers from federal prosecution but does not address patients’ rights to access essential government services, their right to gun ownership, their ability to utilize cannabis treatments in hospices, hospitals, and assisted living facilities, or their right to travel or relocate for better employment opportunities or to pursue higher education.

These issues will not be addressed by rescheduling alone or by legalizing cannabis for adult-use purposes. Criminal penalties are only one of the many issues facing patients. The state experiments have shown that patients lose when forced to compete with adult-use consumers for policy protections and product supply. Furthermore, without federal policies that foster access, patients will always be subject to attacks from the anti-marijuana lobby in DC, which is experiencing a resurgence, jeopardizing any progress on medical cannabis policy and federal patient protections.

Patients have teed up Congress to pass comprehensive medical cannabis legislation. We have created cannabis product safety protocols for human consumption, debunked the "gateway" myth, engaged the World Health Organization (WHO) to recognize cannabis's therapeutic uses, successfully advocated for cannabis rescheduling in drug treaties at the United Nations, and generated the data needed for HHS and FDA to find that cannabis has accepted medical use.

In collaboration with healthcare stakeholders, cannabis experts, and policy advisors, we have developed a legislative proposal for a national medical cannabis program that introduces a new scheduling category for cannabis and cannabinoids, designated as Schedule VI, and establishes the Office of Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoid Control (OMC) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The OMC would be entrusted with crafting and implementing regulations to facilitate the integration of cannabis treatments into the national healthcare infrastructure.

The OMC will possess the authority and resources necessary to coordinate federal agencies, harmonize product safety protocols, develop a centralized licensing and registration authority for the supply chain of all cannabis and cannabinoid products, including synthetic and isolates, and issue classification guidelines for over-the-counter-vs-controlled access products (Schedule VI (A) vs Schedule VI). Additionally, the OMC would issue product and system guidelines for compassionate use prescriptions and the framework for full-spectrum cannabis-based products to achieve evidence-based health claims.

We know that cannabis medicines are changing lives, but we need federal laws to change to ensure everyone has safe, reliable access. The only way we pass federal legislation is if we have champions in Congress to fight for patients.

Join the Compassionate Candidate Campaign to let those applying for the job to represent you this November know that “Medical Cannabis Champion” is something you want to see on their resume!

In Solidarity, 

Steph Sherer