2019 STATE OF THE STATES REPORT - Amazon Web Services

2019 STATE OF THE STATES REPORT

AN ANALYSIS OF MEDICAL CANNABIS ACCESS IN THE UNITED STATES



Dear Reader,

Each year, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) analyzes, summarizes, and critiques legislation and regulations as they become law and develops this report to assess how these programs are serving the needs of patients. In 2014, when we first started writing this report, only 22 states were analyzed and graded. Now, six years later, we are analyzing 47 states in over 50 categories surrounding Patient Rights and Civil Protection from Discrimination, Access to Medicine, Ease of Navigation, Functionality of the Program, and Consumer Safety and Provider Requirements.

Through this report, ASA also recommends how states can improve programs, and we take great pride in knowing that these recommendations are frequently followed and incorporated by regulators and policymakers. While we are excited to see the number of states with medical cannabis programs increase, we know this patchwork of laws is not working to provide access to everyone who needs this medicine. Patients can still not travel to other states with their medicine, and some states only offer protections that cover a small subset of patients using a certain type of medicine. The types of medicine available, method of administration, purchase limits, training requirements for staff, labeling requirements, etc. are different depending on the state that you are lucky, or unlucky, enough to live in.

With international rescheduling of cannabis on the horizon, it is time the United States follow the lead of other countries, and in particular, those nations where the regulation and control of cannabis is placed in a centralized federal agency. For a look at our recommendations on how to End the Federal Conflict, through a federal Office of Medical Cannabis read Chapter 7 of our Medical Cannabis Briefing Book: .

We hope that you take the information in this report and use it to bring greater access to patients all over the country.

With gratitude,

Steph Sherer President and Founder Americans for Safe Access

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CONTENTS

MEDICAL CANNABIS BY THE NUMBERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 EVOLUTION OF THIS REPORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 SCORING UPDATE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 STATE-BY-STATE GRADES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 HOW STATES WERE EVALUATED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 MEDICAL CANNABIS TIMELINE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 THE MEDICAL USE OF CANNABIS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 CATEGORY 1 PATIENT RIGHTS AND CIVIL PROTECTIONS FROM DISCRIMINATION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 CATEGORY 2 ACCESS TO MEDICINE.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 CATEGORY 3 EASE OF NAVIGATION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 CATEGORY 4 FUNCTIONALITY.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 CATEGORY 5 CONSUMER SAFETY AND PROVIDER REQUIREMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 STATE MEDICAL CANNABIS PROGRAM REGULATIONS AND OVERSIGHT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 STATE REPORT CARDS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 APPENDIX 1 UNIVERSAL IMPROVEMENTS & MODEL LEGISLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 APPENDIX 2 RECOMMENDATION TO REGULATORS.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 APPENDIX 3 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ROLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

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MEDICAL CANNABIS AINCACMESESRICNATHE UNITED STATES

MEDICAL CANNABIS BY THE NUMBERS

47

States with Medical Cannabis Laws

0

Deaths Caused by Cannabis

3 MIL.+

$ 500 MIL.+

Medical Cannabis Patients in the U.S.

Federal Tax Dollars Spent on Federal Interference in Medical Cannabis

States before Rohrabacher-Farr CJS Amendment

$

9,000

Clinical Trial Data Using Cannabis for Pain in Patient Years

95+

Qualifying Medical Conditions in Medical Cannabis Programs

4

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