Category: Press Releases

(New York) – Orrick, a leading global law firm, is partnering with Americans for Safe Access’ Patients’ Rights Project to provide pro bono support to medical cannabis patients, many if not most of whom are low-income, to navigate the often confusing legal landscape of medical cannabis laws. Forty-one states, DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam all have some type of medical cannabis law today.  Each law is unique and presents varying challenges for patients trying to obtain treatment in these often complex programs. Once laws are passed, medical cannabis patients and providers are often unclear about the specifics of the laws, which leaves them vulnerable to arrest, prosecution, and incarceration. Furthermore, implementation of these programs has often required litigation. The services provided by this partnership will help fill a growing void for this type of resource.

Founded in 2002, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the nation’s largest medical cannabis patient advocacy organization.  For over a decade, ASA has offered educational tools for medical cannabis stakeholders and has worked through legislative advocacy and the court system to broaden patients’ rights to access medical cannabis. ASA identifies impact litigation through data gathered by offering medical cannabis patients legal support and cooperation with pro bono attorneys, including but not limited to, public defender offices. This impact litigation has helped protect and expand patients’ rights and uphold the validity of state medical cannabis programs.

“We are honored to be working with Orrick on this important project. With over 2 million medical cannabis patients nation-wide and laws evolving on a daily basis, this partnership means we can keep up with the demand on the Patient’s Rights Project” said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of ASA.

The project includes creation and distribution of state-by-state legal manuals for patients and guides for public defenders, defending medical cannabis patients. In the fall, Orrick will be coordinating attorneys to support ASA’s legal hotline as well. The hotline will not only serve individual patients but will also help monitor implementation of state medical cannabis programs.

Founded in San Francisco a century and a half ago, Orrick today is named by Law360 as one of the “Global 20” leading firms. Their platform offers clients a distinctive combination of local insight and global reach across 25 offices. Orrick is also well known for its sustained pro bono commitment. Their pro bono program has been praised for the dedication of its lawyers to supporting diverse causes with tangible results—including high-profile immigration disputes, civil rights litigation, advocacy to solve systemic problems and grassroots global development through an innovative impact finance initiative. The firm’s commitment to serving its communities worldwide is underscored by the full participation of lawyers around the firm on important matters for low-income clients.

“We are very excited to start a pro bono relationship with such a dynamic nonprofit, as Americans for Safe Access. They offer first-rate advocacy in ensuring that low-income patients with a medical need for cannabis have the legal and other necessary support to address the challenges faced by their medical conditions and the use of a drug that makes life better for these patients,” said Rene Kathawala, Orrick’s firm-wide pro bono counsel.

Over the last fourteen years, ASA has helped thousands of patients with legal support through their toll-free patient hotline, online interactive FAQ, and one-on-one visits with patients and other stakeholders. Changing laws have reduced, but not eliminated, criminal sanctions and prosecutions of legal medical cannabis patients and others. However, patients still face pervasive discrimination in employment, access to health care, housing, and parental rights. They also face inappropriate harassment and prosecution.

“ASA anticipates that the support provided by Orrick will be increasingly significant as medical cannabis laws continue to be adopted, amended, and implemented nationwide” continued Sherer. “This type of professional help and capacity is needed to protect patients and providers, identify opportunities to expand their rights, and inform policymakers about the challenges that remain.”

(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.

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Baltimore, MD – Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has been selected to provide training for compliance inspectors operating under the authority of the Natalie M. LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. The auditors are charged with ensuring members of the state’s new medical cannabis industry comply with all applicable regulations, which were finalized by the Commission in August. 

In addition to developing its own rigorous compliance protocols, Maryland has adopted the American Herbal Product Association’s (AHPA) Recommendations to Regulators in the areas of: cultivation, distribution and manufacturing. AHPA’s guidelines offer seed-to-consumption product safety and quality control measures that will ensure rigid oversight of the state’s medical cannabis industry.

Auditor training will be offered through the Patient Focused Certification (PFC) program, a project of ASA with extensive experience training members of the cannabis industry to meet strict regulatory compliance guidelines. PFC has trained thousands of employees of the medical cannabis industry and is currently under contract with the District of Columbia to train all medical cannabis staff to achieve comprehensive regulatory compliance.

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Washington, DC — The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) Cannabis Committee, in coordination with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), and the Hemp Industries Association (HIA), announces the release of a joint statement advocating for implementation of best practices for the regulation of consumable, topical, and inhalant cannabis and hemp-derived products to ensure quality and consumer safety.  These best practices were developed with the input of numerous industry experts and establish common language and defined terms for the transparent and accurate labeling of these products to support responsible commerce and informed use of the cannabis plant.

AHPA, ASA and HIA will be promoting these best practices at the 3rd Annual National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference being held March 27-31, in Washington, DC.

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Redway & Laytonville, CA — Multiple medical marijuana businesses from northern California — Sonoma Lab Works and Peace in Medicine, with dispensaries in Sebastopol and Santa Rosa — were certified earlier this month by Patient Focused Certification (PFC), a nationwide program that verifies the quality and reliability of products sold to patients, as well as quality control standards, calibration, and evaluation processes for labs that test medical marijuana products.

PFC is a project of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the only nonprofit, third-party certification for the medical marijuana industry based on new quality standards issued by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the American Herbal Pharmacopeia (AHP). ASA formed PFC in part to fill the vacuum left by states like California, which have so far failed to adopt statewide regulations aimed at protecting patients.

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Seattle, WA — Two Washington State-based laboratories — The Werc Shop and Phytalab — have recently been certified under a nationwide program that verifies quality control standards, calibration, and evaluation processes for labs that test medical marijuana products. These certificates were awarded by the Patient Focused Certification (PFC) program, which also certifies the quality and reliability of products sold at licensed medical marijuana businesses.

The Werc Shop and Phytalab test medical and recreational marijuana products produced, manufactured, and sold throughout Washington State. PFC is a project of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the only nonprofit, third-party certification for the medical marijuana industry based on new quality standards issued by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the American Herbal Pharmacopeia (AHP).

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Washington, D.C. — The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) released its long-awaitedmedical marijuana manufacturing guidelines today, completing its compendium of industry standards which include regulatory recommendations for cannabis from seed to sale. The AHPA manufacturing guidelines come as licensed Colorado business “At Home Baked” sees the country’s first medical marijuana product recall.

A new nationwide program called Patient Focused Certification (PFC), a project of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), aims to bring greater standardization to the medical marijuana industry. The PFC program uses the recently completed AHPA guidelines in combination with standards set byAmerican Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) for the plant’s identity, purity, quality and botanical properties. Together, these standards have the means to bring greater accountability to the industry and increased safety for patients.

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