Cannabis advocacy organization Americans for Safe Access (ASA) released a new guide for cannabis patients and caregivers on Tuesday, designed to help individuals understand and exercise their rights under federal reclassification of medical cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
The guide, “Medical Cannabis Patients: Claiming Your Federal Protections and Privileges,” seeks to explain what the federal moves mean for patients, caregivers, providers, advocates and institutions.
In a statement, Steph Sherer, ASA founder and executive director, said patients “have waited decades for federal recognition, but recognition alone does not protect someone from losing housing, employment, health care, benefits or custody.”
“Patients now have new federal protections and privileges, but they must be willing to ask for them. The ASA created this guide because rights are not self-enforcing, and stigma will not disappear just because the law has changed.” – Sherer in one press release
The guide describes the rights and protections now available to medical cannabis patients under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; however, he cautions that “agencies, employers, landlords, health care facilities and public programs will not automatically update their policies just because the law has changed.”
“Federal medical cannabis laws have changed. Stigma will delay enforcement,” Sherer said in a statement. “Some systems will move slowly. Some will resist. Some may try to ignore this change altogether. That’s why patients, caregivers, providers, advocates and allies need to act now.”
The guide provides tools that patients and caregivers can use to protect their rights, request written explanations, document discrimination, and request individualized review.
The ASA also launched a campaign to end discrimination against medical cannabis patients and is collection of reports from patients, caregivers, veterans, workers, tenants, parents, service members and others who have experienced discrimination because of their medical use of cannabis.
“Documentation is not just paperwork,” Sherer said in a statement. “This is how individual experiences become evidence for policy change. Every denial letter, drug testing policy, housing notice or denial of care helps show federal agencies and lawmakers where outdated systems are still harming patients.”
The campaign is also calling on the administration of President Donald Trump (R) to immediately issue guidelines for medical cannabis patients under the new rules.
