top
California
California
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Medical Marijuana Access in the US: A Patient-Focused Analysis of the Patchwork of State Laws

by Americans for Safe Access
The report takes a patient-centered approach, evaluating programs on how effective they are in meeting patients’ needs. ASA is asking their members to share the report with their state representatives. "With the increased interest in medical cannabis access around the country, it is imperative that we ensure that new and existing programs adopt regulations and standards that provide patients with safe medicine while protecting their rights," said ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer. "This report will help policymakers create and maintain programs that put the patients first."

Patient advocates across the country continue to fight for medical cannabis laws that both protect patient access and ensure product safety. Advocates spend thousands of hours every year in legislative briefings, and administrative hearings — analyzing new regulations and laws, and lobbying their elected officials — to help move their state closer to a functioning medical cannabis program. The good news is, these efforts are having a true impact on individual patients.

Fifty-one year old mother and grandmother Tamra Howard of California suffers from renal kidney failure. She says, “Medical cannabis gives me an appetite and keeps me from being depressed.” As a transplant candidate, Tamra was relieved when the Governor of California approved AB258 in July, 2015. The measure protects medical cannabis patients from being excluded from the transplant list which, if not protected, would be devastating for Tamra. Thanks in part to the efforts of Assembly Member Marc Levine who introduced the legislation, Tamra is currently on the transplant list, and able to use her medicine without fear of losing her spot on the list.
2016-annual-report-asa.jpg
PRESS RELEASE

Americans for Safe Access

For Immediate Release: January 26, 2016

Contact: ASA Government Affairs Director, Mike Liszewski at mike [at] safeaccessnow.org or ASA Communications and Outreach Director, Beth Collins at beth [at] safeaccessnow.org or 202.618.6978


State Officials and Experts Applaud New Report that Evaluates Medical Marijuana Programs Nation-wide

Patient Advocates Hope Report will Help State Legislators “Make the Grade” in 2016


(Washington, D.C.) – Americans for Safe Access (ASA) issued “Medical Marijuana Access in the US: A Patient-Focused Analysis of the Patchwork of State Laws,” today. The annual report evaluates the array of differing state medical cannabis programs across the country from a perspective often overlooked in policy debates: the patients’ and provides policy makers with model legislation and regulations. With dozens of states already seeing legislative and regulatory proposals in 2016, this groundbreaking report will provide state lawmakers with timely tools they need to improve their medical cannabis programs to truly meet the needs of the patients they are meant to serve.

Eighty-one percent of Americans favor the legalization of medical marijuana according to a May 7, 2015, Harris Poll. This broad support has led to unprecedented progress in state medical marijuana programs in 2015. Nineteen states introduced legislation to legalize medical marijuana during the year. In addition, many of the twenty three states with current medical marijuana laws passed legislation to expand or improve their programs in 2015, including New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Connecticut, Oregon, California, Washington, Maryland, Hawaii, Illinois, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. Other states, like Nevada and Vermont, expanded and improved their programs through new regulations.

This report comes at a perfect time to inform improvements to existing medical marijuana programs and guide legislators who are creating or expanding laws and programs. “Too often, patients are denied life-saving treatments solely because they are using medical cannabis,” said California Assemblymember Marc Levine, champion of the Medical Cannabis Organ Transplant Act (AB 258), “It is imperative for state lawmakers to take advantage of vital resources like ASA’s report to improve their state programs.”

The report uses a point system to grade each medical marijuana law on: 1) patients' rights and protection from discrimination, 2) access to medicine, 3) ease of navigation, 4) functionality, and 5) product safety protocols. The report found that while many states have important elements helpful to patients, no state has yet established an ideal, comprehensive program.

The most notable trend in 2015 was the adoption and implementation of comprehensive product safety regulations. With Maryland’s medical marijuana program projected to begin serving patients in 2017, the state received the highest grade for product safety by working with ASA to combine its own stringent safety and quality control measures with those of the American Herbal Product Association’s (AHPA) Recommendations to Regulators in the areas of: cultivation, distribution and manufacturing. “The tools provided by Americans for Safe Access and the Patient Focused Certification program have been tremendously helpful in creating product safety regulations that will ensure Maryland patients are receiving the highest quality products and medicine possible” said Hannah Byron, executive director of the Natalie M. LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.

Maryland is not the only state adopting the best practices and AHPA recommendations and standards. New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Washington have also done so. Michael McGuffin, President of AHPA, notes, "The report highlights how best practice guidance such as the Cannabis Committee's Recommendations to Regulators documents can assist states in establishing regulations that ensure the quality and safety of cannabis products."

The report takes a patient-centered approach, evaluating programs on how effective they are in meeting patients’ needs. ASA is asking their members to share the report with their state representatives. "With the increased interest in medical cannabis access around the country, it is imperative that we ensure that new and existing programs adopt regulations and standards that provide patients with safe medicine while protecting their rights," said ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer. "This report will help policymakers create and maintain programs that put the patients first."

Letter-grades for all 23 state laws and Washington, D.C.: Alaska (D-), Arizona (B-), California (B+), Colorado (B), Connecticut (C+), Delaware (C), Hawaii (B), Illinois (B+), Maine (B-), Maryland (B), Massachusetts (B), Michigan (D+), Minnesota (C), Montana (D-), Nevada (B), New Hampshire (C), New Jersey (C), New Mexico (B+), New York (C), Oregon (B), Rhode Island (C-), Vermont (D+), Washington (B+), and the District of Columbia (C).
§State of the States Report 2016
by Americans for Safe Access
state-of-the-states-report-2016.pdf_600_.jpg
MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACCESS IN THE UNITED STATES

A Patient-Focused Analysis of the Patchwork of State Laws

[ 129 pages ]
§State of the States Report 2016 Overview
by Americans for Safe Access
state-of-the-states-2016-overview.pdf_600_.jpg
For over a decade, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation’s largest medical cannabis patient advocacy organization, has engaged state governments, the courts, and regulators to improve the development and implementation of state medical cannabis laws. This experience has taught us how to assess whether or not state laws meet the practical needs of patients, and it has provided us with the tools to advocate for programs that will better meet those needs.

The “Medical Marijuana Access in the US: A Patient-Focused Analysis of the Patchwork of State Laws,” is an annual report that evaluates the array of differing laws across the country from a patient’s perspective. The grade for each state medical cannabis program is based on how well it meets the needs of patients in five categories and up to twenty-five (25) bonus points were awarded to states that made statutory or regulatory improvements, or prevented harmful changes from taking effect. ASA developed this criteria over several years, based on a series of over 100 public meetings across the U.S. and surveys of our 100,000+ members.
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network