Many of the therapeutic uses for cannabis are well-known and documented, and medical researchers are learning more each day. Medical professionals have a legal right to recommend cannabis as a treatment in any state, as protected by the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (Title III section 301) which become law on December 2, 2022 and the First Amendment (established by a 2004 United States Supreme Court decision to uphold earlier federal court rulings that doctors, and their patients have a fundamental Constitutional right to freely discuss treatment options).
State rules for qualifying an individual patient for legal protections when using medical cannabis differ as to who may make the recommendation and for what conditions, as well as how that recommendation is communicated to the appropriate state authorities. While there is a lot to navigate, Americans for Safe Access is here to help medical professionals with legal information as well as access to information about incorporating cannabis therapeutics into a patient’s treatment plan. For every legal medical cannabis patient in America, there is a medical professional who has recommended its use.
Today there are over 6 million patients in the US successfully utilizing cannabis therapeutics under state medical cannabis programs. While the federal prohibition of cannabis has limited modern clinical research and resulted in considerable misinformation, a scientific consensus on its therapeutic value has emerged, based on a growing body of successful clinical trials and preclinical research. The experience of patients, medical professionals and research has revealed that cannabis can safely treat a remarkably broad range of medical conditions, often more effectively than conventional pharmaceutical drugs. For some of the most difficult-to-treat conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and neuropathic pain, cannabis often works when nothing else does.
Americans for Safe Access offers medical professionals tools to navigate the current patchwork of medical cannabis laws, the latest medical cannabis information, and resources for patient education. It is important to understand that the state-by-state compassionate use programs are not the ultimate goal for medical cannabis patients, they are triage to aide patients in finding safe cannabis products until we can change federal law, and create a national program that would include prescriptions, standardized products, and a pathway for insurance coverage.
We hope you join us to continue our work for safe access, sign up today to stay connected!
