National Medical Marijuana Group Launches Legislative Toolkit for Policymakers
- The American Council of Cannabis Medicine (ACCM) has introduced a Legislative Medical Cannabis Toolkit to assist federal, state, and local policymakers in developing comprehensive medical marijuana laws and regulations.
- The toolkit addresses critical issues such as patient access, physician involvement, whole-plant protections, insurance integration, scientific research, industry standards, and small-business protections.
- ACCM is also providing a Legislative Response Team to support lawmakers with policy briefings, legislation review, committee hearing preparation, stakeholder engagement, and expert testimony connections.
- The initiative aims to promote marijuana reforms that support research and innovation while preserving whole-plant products, respecting state medical programs, and safeguarding small businesses from burdensome compliance requirements.
The American Council of Cannabis Medicine (ACCM) has launched a new legislative toolkit designed to help federal, state and local policymakers develop laws and regulations surrounding medical marijuana.
Announced today, the Legislative Medical Cannabis Toolkit was developed for lawmakers, congressional staff, government agencies and regulatory officials. It covers issues including patient access, physician participation, protections for whole-plant and whole-flower marijuana, insurance integration, scientific research, industry standards, small-business protections and the continued role of state medical marijuana programs.
The organization said the toolkit also addresses continuity of care, physician education, insurance reimbursement, patient privacy and research access, as well as how changes to marijuana’s federal scheduling could affect medical programs.
“Medical cannabis policy is entering one of the most important periods in its history,” said Doug Benns, chair of ACCM’s Executive Committee. “[L]egislators need reliable information from people who understand patient care and the operational realities of the industry.”
Benns added that “This toolkit provides a practical starting point and direct access to physicians, patients, researchers, insurance professionals, agricultural experts, dispensary operators and regulatory specialists.”
Alongside the toolkit, ACCM is making a Legislative Response Team available to legislative offices and government agencies. The group says the team can provide policy briefings, review proposed legislation, help prepare for committee hearings, organize stakeholder discussions and connect policymakers with experts who can provide testimony or answer technical questions.
Those specialists may include healthcare professionals, patients, researchers, insurance experts, compliance and regulatory professionals, marijuana dispensary operators and representatives of medical marijuana businesses.
ACCM said one of the initiative’s central goals is ensuring that future marijuana reforms support research and innovation without eliminating whole-plant or flower products, disrupting existing state medical marijuana programs or establishing compliance requirements that could shut smaller businesses out of the market.
Founded in 2016 as a Capitol Hill working group, ACCM describes itself as a national organization representing medical marijuana retailers, producers, healthcare professionals, researchers, insurers, patient advocates and other participants in the medical marijuana industry.