GMP Collective is a proud sponsor of the 2022 State of the States Report

The GMP Collective is a proud sponsor of the 2022 State of the States Report published by the Americans for Safe Access (ASA). With over 150,000 active supporters, ASA is the country’s largest member-based medical cannabis advocacy group. Since 2014, the organization has published this comprehensive report that grades the laws and regulations of U.S. states, D.C. and the four U.S. territories. If you look at the reports over the years, it provides a snapshot of medical cannabis access and regulatory progress. As time passes, ASA adapts the report with the times, adding valuable sections, such as how states handled the COVID-19 response and starting to give penalties for rules that limit patient access (Kentucky, New Mexico, and North Carolina having the most penalties in this most recent report). ASA also updated the rubric to prioritize the needs of patients today.

We believe it is important to support advocacy groups such as ASA to ensure medical cannabis patients are not forgotten in the growing wave of adult-use legalization. To support the ASA’s efforts in producing this valuable resource, we helped grade the most complex section: Consumer Protection and Product Safety. With The GMP Collective’s vast experience in these subjects, we evaluated the states’ program requirements regarding staff training, quality management systems, standard operating procedures, required testing, packaging and labeling, complaints and adverse event reporting, recall protocols and more for cultivations, manufacturing operations, retail stores, and testing labs.

If you are looking for more tools for your advocacy belt, look no further. The State of the States Report is an important, free resource that can be used to assess and improve medical cannabis programs. It is broken up into five sections, which are summarized in ASA’s editorial briefing of the 2022 report and listed below.

Civil Rights & Patient Protection

• Arizona scored highest in this section.
• Most states include arrest protections.
• Very few parental rights laws.
• Some states have employment protections, but usually with the caveat that employers can do what they want.
• States must address driving under the influence devices.

Access to Medicine

• Maine scored highest in this section.
• Reciprocity, allowing out-of-state patients possess and/or purchase cannabis while traveling, is becoming more widespread.
• More states need to allow cultivation.
• Collective gardening, cooperative caregiver or patient cultivations, do not exist anymore.
• Most states do not have sufficient retailers.

Affordability

• Illinois and Virginia scored the highest in this section.
• This section had the lowest average score for any section.
• Most states have exemptions from sales tax for patients.
• Registration fees are still too high, ranging from $50 – 350 a year.
• Multi-year registrations are growing, so patients do not have to register each year.

Health & Social Equity

• Ohio scored the highest in this section.
• Need state program protections.
• Access for minors is typically good.
• Underserved areas need attention.
• Starting to see improvements in owner requirements (e.g., some states have provisions that say if you have past convictions, you cannot be an owner)

Consumer Protection & Product Safety

• Maryland scored the highest in this section.
• Safety requirements and enforcement of these requirements varies widely.
• Need comprehensive, standardized testing.
• Training across all sectors should be priority and it is not prioritized in many states.
• Consumer education and safety literacy is still lacking in several states.

Overall, ASA saw the following cross-country trends.

• Prioritization of adult-use over medical cannabis program improvements.
• Patients are being forgotten as more and more medical programs are combined with adult use programs.
• Product testing and labeling needs to be standardized.
• The lack of federal action is still a huge issue.
• Cannabis programs are still cost prohibitive to many patients (e.g., registration costs, taxes, no insurance coverage).

We encourage to do a deeper dive of the report so you can be armed with information to promote policies aimed at improving patient access to safe cannabis products. Over the years, we have seen some states act on the recommendations produced by ASA, signifying the importance of this report. You can see this echoed in the slide below from the ASA’s editorial briefing about the 2022 report, where we see more states scoring a B- or C+, from 2021 to 2022.

Source: ASA’s editorial briefing about the 2022 report

How did your state score? Don’t be disappointed if you don’t see an “A” for your state. No state scored above a “B-.” Make sure to check out your state’s specific regulatory recommendations based on their grade. Maybe you can use that information in conversations with your legislatures and regulatory bodies and hopefully one or more states will score an “A” next year!

Source: ASA’s 2022 State of the States Report

Not only does the report provide a snapshot of medical cannabis access and the gaps in legislation and regulation that exist across the states, but it also includes several other assets. In the report, you’ll find:

• Recommendations for each state’s regulators to improve their medical cannabis regulations.
• A checklist of essential policies with example language that can be used to provide medical cannabis equity in state laws and rules.
• A list of universal improvements that every state can take to improve their programs with model language.
• A discussion of state governments’ role in ending federal prohibition.

In conclusion, the State of the States Report is an excellent resource to send to your local and state legislators and regulators, journalists, and local communities. If you thought the report was valuable, we encourage you to become a member of ASA. For as little as $35 a year, you can support ASA’s legal, policy, social, and educational work!