Yesterday (Tuesday), Americans for Safe Access (ASA) delivered a letter on behalf of 13 patient-based organizations to several national legislators, including Chuck Grassley. The petition urges them to vote on the Compassionate Access Research Expansion and Respect Act (CARERs), which would allow for state medical cannabis programs that would be free of federal interference. This act would move cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug, would remove cannabidiol entirely from the schedule and create access to banking services for medical cannabis businesses in states it is legal. “This letter represents the growing number of voices in the patient community joining the call for committee leaders to allow this act to go to a vote,” said Senior Director of Government Relations and External Affairs for ASA, Beth Collins. “We urge Senator Grassley and Representative Joe Pitts to listen to the many Americans who support medical cannabis and the more than two million people who already benefit from it as a treatment option,” she added. The letter was signed by the ASA as well as: the Danny Did Foundation; Epilepsy Foundation; Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures (FACES)’ Hope4Harper; Hope for Hypothalamic Hamartomas; Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Foundation; National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Women’s Health Network; Realm of Caring; the Michael J. Fox Foundation; and Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance.
