Americans for Safe AccessA c t i v i s t N e w s l e t t e r

Defending Pat ients ’ Access to Medical Mari juanaAPRIL 2016 Volume 11, Issue 4

Americans for Safe Access • 1624 U Street NW, Ste 200 • Washington, D.C. 20009 202-857-4272 • info@AmericansForSafeAccess.org • www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org

Annual Unity Conference Energizes Advocates in DCASA’s National Medical Cannabis UnityConference brought over 200 patients, doc-tors, and advocates to Washington, DC inMarch. The fourth annual conference featuredthree days of talks, trainings and networking,followed by a lobby day that saw advocateshold more than 300 meetings on Capitol Hillwith their elected representatives and staffs.

The conference began with a keynote addressfrom a leading authority in the field ofcannabis research, Dr. Lumír Ondřej Hanuš. Dr.Hanuš, the Czech chemist who with WilliamDevane first identified a key element of theendogenous cannabinoid system. He alsoreceived ASA’s Lifetime Achievement award.

Conference panels examined a host of issuesaffecting patients, including what happenswhen medical cannabis is rescheduled, howregulations are being implemented interna-tionally, methods for creating cannabisextracts and their uses, and the latest develop-ments in medical research and quality assur-ance standards. Tools for improving advocacy

skills were the focus of several panels andworkshops, and medical professionals earnedCME credits in a course covering Cannabis CareCertification, the endocannabinoid system andcannabinoids in pain management.

The day after the conference, ASA held a pressconference in front of theCapitol with Rep. DanaRohrabacher (pictured atright) and others to urgepassage of the bi-partisanCARERS Act before advo-cates fanned out across theHIll to lobby their Senatorsand Representatives.

Americans for Safe Access is marking its 14thanniversary with a push to change internation-al drug policy at the United Nations and topass comprehensive federal legislation.

Founded as a response to the Bush administra-tion’s raids on medical cannabis providers inCalifornia, ASA began as a coalition of drugpolicy and HIV/AIDS organizations with a cam-paign targeting Asa Hutchinson, then head ofthe Drug Enforcement Administration.National organizing soon led to coordinatedprotests in 55 cities demanding the DEA“Cease and Desist.” The California Campaign

for Safe Access was launched that year toimplement the state’s voter initiative, “raid-preparedness” trainings for medical cannabisproviders were held nationally, and thePatients Rights’ Project was created to educateand defend patients. ASA organizing and legalwork helped protect patients in Californiafrom illegal confiscation of medicine, securedthe right to have medicine returned, andestablished criminal protection for providers.ASA has now trained tens of thousands ofAmericans nationwide on their rights and howto handle law enforcement encounters.

ASA Celebrates 14th Anniversary

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The United Nation’sGeneral Assembly SpecialSession (UNGASS) on drugpolicy ended yesterday,April 21, with representa-tives and world leadersmaking strong statementsurging member countriesto move beyond prohibi-tion and into effective reg-ulations for cannabis. Thesession opened with a discussion of the conflictbetween medical cannabis laws and the UNtreaties prohibiting marijuana, with theUNGASS president noting “access to drugs formedical use is a human right to protect.”

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto and theWorld Health Organization’s Director GeneralDr. Margaret Chan were among the leaderswho spoke out for allowing medical use.

To help educate UN mem-ber states, ASA and IMCPCcreated a one-page docu-ment, Moving GlobalCannabis Policy Forward,that ties cannabis to theUN’s priorities, explainingwhy “cannabis must berescheduled in order tomeet the objective ofensuring the availability of

and access to controlled substances exclusivelyfor medical and scientific purposes.”

ASA also distributed to UNGASS its report,Cannabis and Cannabis Resin: Critical ReviewPreparation Document. That 94-page docu-ment by more than a dozen expert authorswas refined and peer-reviewed by more than200 patients, doctors and advocates as part ofASA’s 2016 Unity Conference.

UN Hears Calls for Reform from Patients

On Sunday, April 17, PennsylvaniaGovernor Tom Wolf signed SB 3 in aceremony with patients and advo-

cates, making Pennsylvania the 24th state witha robust medical cannabis program.

His signature marked the end of a multi-yearpolitical struggle that saw bills pass the stateSenate by overwhelming margins only to die inthe House. This year, another strong Senatebill went to the House early in the session, onlyto languish before being returned in Marchtransformed by amendments that sharply lim-ited the program. Senate sponsors took therisk of re-amending the legislation to make itmore workable and sent it back to the House,where the new version passed.

Among the House changes that survived is arequirement that doctors who wish to recom-mend cannabis will be required to registerwith the state in advance and complete a four-hour training. Patients with serious medicalconditions may qualify to obtain up to a 30-day supply of limited types of cannabis prod-ucts, such as oils, pills and topical lotions. Thestate will collect a 5% excise tax.

The law will take effect next month, thoughstate officials say it may be as much as twoyears before any medicine is distributed topatients. For now, the law includes a two-year‘safe harbor’ provision that protects parents ofminor children who can lawfully obtain med-ical cannabis for those children outsidePennsylvania.

PENNSYLVANIA BILLSIGNED BY GOVERNOR

By 2006, ASA had over 20,000 members and anational office in Washington, D.C. to lobby onCapitol Hill. In 2010, ASA’s Executive Directorhosted a series of national strategy meetingswith patients and other stakeholders to identi-fy needs and craft proposals. The result was acitizen-advocate’s guide for developing poli-cies and the online Advocates Training Center.

In 2013, ASA launched the Peace For PatientCampaign and published “What’s the Cost,” areport on the fiscal impact of the federal waron medical cannabis. In each of the past twoyears, ASA has produced "Medical MarijuanaAccess in the US," a report analyzing each statelaw from a patient's perspective. Over the past14 years, ASA has distributed more than onemillion pieces of educational literature andhelped bring thousands of citizens face-to-facewith lawmakers at all levels of government totalk about medical cannabis.

ASA has also worked directly with lawmakersto adopt and improve medical cannabis legis-lation, resulting in new laws such asCalifornia’s measure to prevent medicalcannabis patients from being denied organtransplants and the Rohrabacher-Farr Amend-ment to prevent federal interference.

ASA’s coalition has now expanded to includepowerful new allies such as the AmericanHerbal Products Association (AHPA) and theUnited Food and Commercial Workers Union.ASA collaborated with AHPA on theirRecommendations for Regulators and with theAmerican Herbal Pharmacopeia in producing aCannabis Monograph, the definitive accountof the plant’s botany and medical uses.

Today, ASA is helping educate physicians in apartnership with the Answer Page, trainingregulators and certifying cannabis businessesthrough the Patient Focused Certification pro-gram, and working with an international coali-tion to reform global policy. With the supportof more than 50,000 members, ASA is makinga difference for patients everywhere.

ANNIVERSARY, continued from page 1

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Lawmakers in Three States Modify Their Medical Cannabis ProgramsLawmakers and regulators in three statesacted last month to expand or implement theirstate’s medical cannabis program. In Virginia,SB701, a bill that will allow for the productionand distribution of limited cannabis extracts,cleared both houses of the state legislature onunanimous votes and was signed by Gov. TerryMcAuliffe on March 29. The new law allowsthe Board of Pharmacy to issue production reg-ulations this year, but the law does not go intoeffect unless it is reenacted by the Virginia leg-

islature in 2017. Last year’s passage of SB1235and HB1445 gave epilepsy patients an affirma-tive defense for possession of cannabis extractscontaining cannabidiol (CBD) and THCa, butthat law provided no legal way for anyone toproduce the oils or for patients to obtain them.

In Connecticut, state officials expanded theirmedical cannabis program to protect morepatients. Regulators added six conditions tothe list for which doctors may recommend

medical cannabis, including ALS (Lou Gehrig’sdisease), ulcerative colitis, sickle cell disease,and three pain conditions.

In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott signed House Bill 307to allow terminally ill patients to use medicalcannabis now. The bill expands the state’s‘Right to Try Act’ that permits use of non-FDAapproved medicines by the dying. The bill alsoattempts to resolve implementation problemswith the state’s 2014 medical cannabis law thathas yet to make any medicine available toFloridians. In November, the state’s voters willagain get a chance to pass a constitutionalamendment that would institute a robustmedical cannabis program. A similar voter ini-tiative fell just short in 2014 of the neededsuper-majority of 60 percent.

ANNIVERSARY OFFER: Half Price for Unity 2017 In celebration of ASA turning 14 years old this week, you can register forUNITY 2017 at a discount of 50% off! ASA's annual national conference andlobby day will be from April 7-11, 2017 at the Lowes Madison hotel inWashington, D.C. Make your plans now to join the world's leading expertsand advocates for an informative and fun event. This offer is only good untilthe end of April, so act today to get your spot at the table.

www.nationalmedicalcannabisunityconference.org/unity_2017_registration

Senate Panel OKs Two Cannabis AmendmentsIn a sign of growing support inCongress, the Senate AppropriationsCommittee has approved two med-

ical cannabis measures in recent weeks. Bothactions were budget amendments that pro-vide policy direction, one that broadens safeaccess for veterans and one that would contin-ue the ban on interference with state laws.

The first to pass would allow Veterans HealthAdministration physicians to provide the docu-mentation veterans need to participate instate medical cannabis programs. The right ofdoctors to recommend cannabis is protectedby the First Amendment, but federal policyexplicit forbids VA physicians from doing so.The bipartisan Veterans Equal Access Amend-ment (VEAA) blocks the VA from spendingmoney on enforcing that policy. Reintroducedby Steve Daines (R-MT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), it passed on a vote of 20-10.

This week, the committee also acted on a voteof 21-8 to extend the restrictions placed on theDepartment of Justice (DOJ) by an historic

budget amendment last year. Again sponsoredby Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), the Senateamendment to the FY2017 Commerce, Justice,Science & Related Agencies Appropriations Act(CJS) prohibits the DOJ from spending funds tointerfere with state medical cannabis laws.Known as the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendmentafter its House sponsors Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA), the measure hasbeen part of the previous two CJS budget bills.The House has not had a budget vote this year,but since the amendment was in last year’sappropriations bill, the provision will likelyremain in effect if this year’s budget is againset by a continuing resolution.

The DOJ had argued the Rohrabacher-FarrAmendment only prevented it from challeng-ing state laws, but U.S. District Judge CharlesBreyer ruled otherwise last October, ending afederal injunction that had prevented aCalifornia dispensary from distributing medicalcannabis. Last week the DOJ conceded andabandoned its appeal of his ruling, which hasimplications for other federal cases.