ACS Talking Points:

Join an international network of clinicians and experts establishing true clinical standards, driving policy, and safeguarding patient care. By becoming a member of the Association of Cannabinoid Specialists, you help bridge the gap between clinical science, patient advocacy, and sensible regulation. Join now.

WHO IS ACS:

The Association of Cannabinoid Specialists is an international 501(c)3 nonprofit group of clinicians, regulators, and industry professionals who strive to provide best, human evidence driven care for medical cannabinoid patients.

MISSION STATEMENT:

The Association of Cannabinoid Specialists ensures the highest standards in the practice of cannabis medicine, safeguards patient care with clinical best practices, and interfaces with other stakeholders in the cannabis community. We believe that patients are uniquely vulnerable and have very different needs than recreational users. We provide evidence and experience-based education for patients, cannabis clinicians, referring clinicians, and lawmakers to help them understand cannabis medicine and make informed decisions. We are an advocacy organization striving to provide guidance on best practices in the laws and regulations at the federal, state, and international levels.

OUR CORE VALUES:

Patients are a vulnerable group who deserve the highest standard of medical care and products.
Recreational use is not the same as medical use. These groups have different goals and needs and must be addressed separately.
Prohibition of cannabis is a major public health hazard that has failed to decrease drug use and has led to unsupportable consequences.
Cannabis is medicine. It should be regulated like other medications and be available by prescription including in botanical form.
Cannabis products should not make unsubstantiated medical claims. Products should be required to meet strict standards of safety, bioavailability, and efficacy.
Dispensaries should operate like pharmacies. They should provide products that are safe and effective. They should not provide medical advice to patients. They should not contradict patients’ clinicians’ orders.

TERMINOLOGY:

Cannabis – Any form of cannabis derived from C. sativa. Generally, this includes THC-A and THC. Cannabis is the preferred term over pot, weed, marijuana, etc. Presently cannabis remains federally illegal in the USA but is legalized and regulated at the individual state level.
Hemp – Is a form of cannabis that has been federally defined as having not more than 0.3% THC (THC-A) by dry weight. Hemp was legalized in the USA in 2018 but without any controlling regulation.
Full Spectrum – Any cannabis or hemp preparation that contains all of the extracted components, including THC or THC-A. Broad Spectrum - Any cannabis or hemp preparation that contains all of the extracted components except THC or THC-A.
Therapeutic use – Often called medical use, which is also an acceptable term. It describes use of cannabis or cannabinoids for treatment of defined illness. Ideally this is under the care and guidance of a clinician specialist. Self-medication should be strongly discouraged.
Non-therapeutic use – Often called recreational use, though many advocates dislike the implications of “recreational” or cite other uses like religious or spiritual. Non-therapeutic use is currently the most accurate and least stigmatized term.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES IN TALKING TO THE MEDIA:

When speaking to the media about ACS, it is critical that you stick to our Core Values above and our Talking Points below. When in doubt, simple repetition of Core Values is better and safer than improvisation. Repetition will drive home our message. If you’re asked a specific question that is not central to ACS’s messaging, then you should state that ACS does not (presently) have a position on that question.

Some general concepts:

Keep it positive. Emphasize our medical and policy objective, not what has not yet been achieved. For example, say that we are seeking the support from medical associations rather than reinforcing that we don’t have their support (yet).
Don’t spend a lot of time making the other side’s points. If you repeatedly state the other side’s opinion, that will stick in the mind of the listener, even if you are refuting what the other side says.
Always assume that you’re always speaking “on the record.” Reporters are under no obligation to keep your confidence.

SPECIFIC TALKING POINTS:

Association of Cannabis Specialists argues that any federal law must include at a minimum the following parameters. We also assert that new state laws should follow the same criteria and that existing state laws need to be amended to reflect these key points.

Exact prescriptions: Every jurisdiction should implement a prescribing paradigm to ensure that patients receive both specific prescriptions and products that support very specific and reliable regimens. A prescription is defined as a document that specifies product (by name or components), dose, frequency, route of administration, and amount to be sold. This is no different from a prescription for any conventional medication. Regulations should limit the amount of product that a dispensary can sell to patients per the prescription, which are based on the regimen needed by that patient. Regulation should not focus on limiting the amount of medicine that a patient is permitted to have in their possession.
Medical claims: Sales representatives must be prohibited from upselling or making medical determinations on behalf of the patient. Regulation must prohibit medical claims made by manufacturers, as well as statements that are allowed by lay people, such as bud tenders, who are selling these products.
State-to-state interoperability: Patients must be allowed to travel with their medication, including by air, within all U.S. states, use their medication in all states, and purchase their medication in all states subject to their prescription. These conditions are crucial to proper and effective medical treatment.
Common safety standards: A regulatory regime governing the growing, harvesting, manufacturing, testing, and packaging of cannabis medicine in such a manner consistent with other medications.
Clinical Discretion: Regulation must cease to limit patient care by means of the lists of qualifying medical conditions. Clinicians are more qualified than state lawmakers to assess what medications are appropriate for patients’ care.
Purchase feedback: Regulations should mandate nation-wide tracking of cannabis medicine sales in a HIPAA-compliant, protected, and de-identified (when appropriate) fashion so that system compliance can be monitored, scientific data can be extracted, and individual patient purchase information can be fed back to and monitored by their clinicians. Such a system would be similar to the PMP systems used for opioid, and other controlled substance, monitoring.
Non-therapeutic (recreational) system overlap: Regulations must prohibit dispensary sales teams from making medical recommendations to people presenting in the non-therapeutic (recreational) market with medical questions. (For example, if a 50-year-old man presents to a retail cannabis establishment and asks the question, “what have you got for my back pain?” the sales agent’s appropriate and legally constrained response should be, “I'm sorry I cannot address these questions. I would be happy to put you in touch with a physician who can.”)
Research agenda: Regulations governing cannabis medication should prioritize safety and efficacy, as they do any other medications, through the promotion of ongoing research efforts. This should be overseen by the FDA and have a clearly defined pathway for approval. It is critical that there be a unified national policy for the prescribing of cannabis/cannabinoid medication for patients, just as there is for any other medication. Until such time as this can be instituted federally, states should implement the above requirements themselves. Cannabis prescriptions should be held to the same standard of legal regulation and enforcement as any other prescription.