Just Average: Keystone Cannabis Report Card 2018

Despite Pennsylvania’s superior historical legacy, the Keystone state is just “average” according to a new report published by the Americans for Safe Access (ASA). In the 2018 edition of their annual report, Medical Marijuana Access in the United States: A Patient-Focused Analysis of the Patchwork of State Laws, Pennsylvania’s “budding” medical cannabis industry scored 380 out of 500 possible points (76%) for a “C” average. In comparison, California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio received the highest (B+) ratings while much of the “bible belt” region, including Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, received the lowest (F) ratings. Other states receiving “average” ratings include Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.

The patient-focused analysis consists of five primary categories, including patient rights, access to medicine, program navigation, functionality, and consumer safety, with each rated on a 100-point scale. Pennsylvania’s program received their highest marks in Functionality (84) and Ease of Navigation (81), wielding one of the nation’s most comprehensive list of qualifying conditions (17) with “limited administrative or supply problems,” and “reasonable patient-dispensary access” to include minors. Consumer Safety (59) and Access to Medicine (60) left much to be desired as “staff training, mandatory testing, and SOPs” miss the mark while the absence of dried flower and home cultivation lacks flexible access. Finally, Patient Rights (71) scored in the middle of the pack, receiving positive scores for “arrest and parental rights protections” with room for improvement regarding “DUI and housing protections.”

Perhaps the most intriguing revelation in this year’s report is ASA’s addition of a sixth scoring metric. The new “Opioid Response” category was not factored into this year’s ratings, but the ASA made a point to suggest that it should “shape the decisions of policy makers and legislatures as they propose new laws in the coming year.” Sub-categories include availability for treatment, doctor education, cannabis use specifically for pain patients, pain patient access, affordability, and enhanced medical research. According to the report, opioids claim 100 people a day. ASA launched the End Pain, Not Lives (EPNL) campaign last year which will culminate in May with a three-day conference in DC, home to ASA’s national HQ. Part of their agenda is to target chronic pain sufferers, ensuring cannabis access is safe and affordable across the Union. The report states that medical cannabis programs are only serving about 2% of state populations despite a substantial segment (33%) of chronic pain patients that would benefit from the program as well. In addition, the ASA also claims “states with medical cannabis programs have nearly a 25% decrease in opioid overdose deaths...more recent research suggests that this number is more towards 40%.” By adding this category, which will now account for nearly 17% of a state’s “report card,” the ASA is expecting to gain a considerable stake in a national agenda to mediate the opioid crisis through safer alternatives.

Read the complete report here.

Additional information includes:

• Thirty states now have some form of medical cannabis legalization with an additional sixteen states carrying CBD-friendly laws.

• ASA’s claim that while 100 people die every day from opioids, there is no medical record of a cannabis overdose that resulted in death.
• Take a look at another ASA report, Medical Cannabis as a Tool to Combat Pain and the Opioid Crisis: A Blueprint for State Policy, to gain additional insight into the organization's strategic response to America's opioid epidemic.

• The Study of Pesticides in Cannabis Plant Clones (2016) report found that “less than 14% of 124 randomly selected clones from different regions were free of any pesticide residue, and 77.4% of the clones tested failed current proposed California cannabis pesticide regulations.”
• Be sure to check out the Cannabis Inflorescence Monograph - “a comprehensive description of the plant’s botany and constituent components…[providing] scientifically valid methods of testing the identity, purity, potency, and quality of cannabis products.” Click here to see a preview of the publication.

To learn more about Pennsylvania's "budding" medical cannabis program, visit ReLeaf Network's FB page @ www.facebook.com/releafnetwork. ReLeaf Network is PA's independent connection and communication network, creating a comprehensive, patient-centered medicinal cannabis care network that promotes safe and affordable access for all patients of PA's 17 qualifying conditions.