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Dear Friend,
 When I took over as ASA’s Interim Executive Director
last March I knew that there was a lot of work ahead of me. It’s never
easy to step in after a founder, especially a visionary like Steph
Sherer. I am so grateful that I can still reach out to her for
guidance and advice and I truly believe that her position as Board
President will continue to advance our organization to the next phase
and help us as we face new challenges ahead.
Looking back now I can say that I am so incredibly proud of the
work our organization has accomplished in 2019:
- We responded to challenging new requirements for cannabis
education for medical professionals by re-accrediting our Cannabis
Care Certification courses and maintaining the highest quality medical
cannabis educational available.
- Our Patient Focused Certification program continued to expand by
adding certification for CBD and hemp producing businesses. Our
partnership with the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation
(A2LA) allowed us to offer a dual ISO/PFC accreditation that
Stillwater Laboratory became the first to achieve in July. This also
helped us begin our own process of becoming an internationally
recognized certifying body.
- ASA was invited to give testimony to the FDA regarding cannabis
products and the vaping illness which continues to injure consumers
and patients.
- We managed to streamline our 2019 State of the States report
despite covering more states and territories than ever before. By
moving our full scoring rubric and qualifying conditions chart into
online tools we created an easier to read, easier to use and more
comprehensive report than ever.
- We also created two all new publications, the Patient’s Guide to
CBD and the Patient’s Guide to U.S. Travel. I’m so proud of our
ability to create high quality educational materials that focus on the
needs of patients across the country.
- ASA isn’t just the team in the national office but also people
working in their state all across the U.S. Our amazing state advocates
helped improve cannabis programs for functionality in Georgia, access
for children in New Mexico and Washington, D.C., and compassionate
donations in California.
 We wouldn’t be able
to accomplish any of this without the donations and membership dues of
supporters and advocates who support our work. We so appreciate the
businesses that sponsor our work, however, the majority of our
donations come from people like you who truly appreciate our work and
give what they can.
As the end of another year draws closer, and with our 8th National
Medical Cannabis Unity conference just around the corner, we need your
support more than ever. Can
we count on your support this year?
Everything we do here at ASA is for patients, and that will never
change. Thank you for making this an amazing year. Wishing you happy
holidays!
Debbie Churgai
Interim Executive Director
Americans for Safe
Access
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/
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