Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Americans for Safe Access Executive Director Steph Sherer was in Sacramento on Monday to tell members of the national organization that advocates for medical marijuana patients that, "The mainstream is coming to our door."
"Fourteen years ago there were less than 30,000 medical marijuana users nationwide. Today there are at least 2.5 million patients, and we've just touched the surface," she said.
She spoke to nearly 300 members during her organization's sixth annual Citizen Lobby Day for the California Legislature at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Marijuana remains a Schedule I substance under the Federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970. That means at the national level, marijuana is considered to have high abuse potential and no established medical use.
"We've started to change that," she said. Sherer cited the May 19 passage in the House of Representatives of the Veteran's Equal Access Amendment to a Veteran's Affairs appropriations bill. She said she hopes for passage in the Senate. The measure would allow physicians to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans who are dependent on the VA for medical care.
Each year, an equal access amendment must be attached to the Veteran's Affairs appropriations bill to allow physicians to prescribe medical marijuana. "This is a yearly effort that is time consuming and unnecessary," she said.
She applauded a bill currently scheduled for hearings in both houses of Congress that would make the Veteran's Affairs appropriation permanent, "and it would do much more. The CARERS Act would permit more scientific studies of marijuana and what it can do, reduce marijuana to a Schedule II drug and protect state and local authorities when they develop laws."
Called the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act, it originated in the Senate. The CARERS Act would affect policy for more than 149 million Americans who live in the 23 states and the District of Columbia that allow medical marijuana.
CARERS was introduced by a bipartisan trio of senators in March, 2015: Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York and Rand Paul, R-Kentucky.
Sherer said the federal designation of marijuana as a Schedule I substance limits scientific testing of medical marijuana in the United States, "which is why we've created a research facility in the Czech Republic where we will look at the whole plant." She said even with passage of the CARERS Act, comprehensive scientific testing will only be possible outside of the United States.
She said efforts to establish workable regulations at the local level are "Key to mainstreaming our product. This goes along with testing, scientific examination, grading and quality control."
Kristin Nevedal, director of patient-focused certification for ASA, said she recently "scanned the Calaveras (county) ordinance and while it seems a little daunting, regulation is the only good way to proceed."
On May 10, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors passed an urgency ordinance to temporarily regulate cannabis cultivation and commerce in the county. The new county law established registration guidelines and enforcement responsibility for the Sheriff's Office and county code enforcement officers.
Calaveras County is surrounded by counties that have banned medical marijuana cultivation and commerce. Bans are in place in Tuolumne, Amador and San Joaquin counties.
"It's important that we treat this like a regulated product. It means growers can plan, borrow to expand their businesses and look to the future," said Nevedal. "Five thousand dollars is very little to pay for that kind of security."
California ASA Director Don Duncan told the group that lobbying members of the state Assembly and Senate was "one of the most important things you can do." Appointments with legislators were scheduled for members of the audience in the afternoon on Monday.
"Tell them this is medicine for real. We need to drive home that medical cannabis is medicine and it has to stand apart from recreational use," he said.
He said 1.4 million people use medical cannabis in California and "it is used by every gender and age group around the state. Sixty percent of patients use it for chronic pain, cancer, arthritis and similar diseases and 40 percent use it to control things like multiple sclerosis and glaucoma. We don't see a lot of trivial use."
Duncan acknowledged that recreational marijuana use could be legal after voters consider a state proposition in November.
"After that, the state will have a long and complicated discussion about nonmedical use, but this not why we're here. We're here to protect medical use of cannabis," he said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Numbers Show That Medical Marijuana Has Gone Mainstream
Author: Terry Grillo
Contact: terry@calaverasenterprise.com
Photo Credit: Tracey Van Auken
Website: Calaveras Enterprise
"Fourteen years ago there were less than 30,000 medical marijuana users nationwide. Today there are at least 2.5 million patients, and we've just touched the surface," she said.
She spoke to nearly 300 members during her organization's sixth annual Citizen Lobby Day for the California Legislature at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Marijuana remains a Schedule I substance under the Federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970. That means at the national level, marijuana is considered to have high abuse potential and no established medical use.
"We've started to change that," she said. Sherer cited the May 19 passage in the House of Representatives of the Veteran's Equal Access Amendment to a Veteran's Affairs appropriations bill. She said she hopes for passage in the Senate. The measure would allow physicians to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans who are dependent on the VA for medical care.
Each year, an equal access amendment must be attached to the Veteran's Affairs appropriations bill to allow physicians to prescribe medical marijuana. "This is a yearly effort that is time consuming and unnecessary," she said.
She applauded a bill currently scheduled for hearings in both houses of Congress that would make the Veteran's Affairs appropriation permanent, "and it would do much more. The CARERS Act would permit more scientific studies of marijuana and what it can do, reduce marijuana to a Schedule II drug and protect state and local authorities when they develop laws."
Called the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act, it originated in the Senate. The CARERS Act would affect policy for more than 149 million Americans who live in the 23 states and the District of Columbia that allow medical marijuana.
CARERS was introduced by a bipartisan trio of senators in March, 2015: Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York and Rand Paul, R-Kentucky.
Sherer said the federal designation of marijuana as a Schedule I substance limits scientific testing of medical marijuana in the United States, "which is why we've created a research facility in the Czech Republic where we will look at the whole plant." She said even with passage of the CARERS Act, comprehensive scientific testing will only be possible outside of the United States.
She said efforts to establish workable regulations at the local level are "Key to mainstreaming our product. This goes along with testing, scientific examination, grading and quality control."
Kristin Nevedal, director of patient-focused certification for ASA, said she recently "scanned the Calaveras (county) ordinance and while it seems a little daunting, regulation is the only good way to proceed."
On May 10, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors passed an urgency ordinance to temporarily regulate cannabis cultivation and commerce in the county. The new county law established registration guidelines and enforcement responsibility for the Sheriff's Office and county code enforcement officers.
Calaveras County is surrounded by counties that have banned medical marijuana cultivation and commerce. Bans are in place in Tuolumne, Amador and San Joaquin counties.
"It's important that we treat this like a regulated product. It means growers can plan, borrow to expand their businesses and look to the future," said Nevedal. "Five thousand dollars is very little to pay for that kind of security."
California ASA Director Don Duncan told the group that lobbying members of the state Assembly and Senate was "one of the most important things you can do." Appointments with legislators were scheduled for members of the audience in the afternoon on Monday.
"Tell them this is medicine for real. We need to drive home that medical cannabis is medicine and it has to stand apart from recreational use," he said.
He said 1.4 million people use medical cannabis in California and "it is used by every gender and age group around the state. Sixty percent of patients use it for chronic pain, cancer, arthritis and similar diseases and 40 percent use it to control things like multiple sclerosis and glaucoma. We don't see a lot of trivial use."
Duncan acknowledged that recreational marijuana use could be legal after voters consider a state proposition in November.
"After that, the state will have a long and complicated discussion about nonmedical use, but this not why we're here. We're here to protect medical use of cannabis," he said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Numbers Show That Medical Marijuana Has Gone Mainstream
Author: Terry Grillo
Contact: terry@calaverasenterprise.com
Photo Credit: Tracey Van Auken
Website: Calaveras Enterprise
