WASHINGTON — Americans for Safe Access (ASA) released a new patient and caregiver guide, “Medical Cannabis Patients: Claim Your Federal Protections & Privileges,” to help medical cannabis patients understand and exercise their rights under the new federal reclassification of medical cannabis. ASA is also launching a national campaign to identify and end discrimination against medical cannabis patients in housing, healthcare, employment, veterans’ services, disability rights, public benefits, family settings, education, federal systems, and private services.
On April 28, 2026, federal cannabis policy changed when the Department of Justice issued AG Order No. 6754-2026, placing FDA-approved cannabis products and cannabis products regulated by qualifying state medical cannabis licenses into Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. For the first time, federal law recognizes state medical cannabis programs as part of the healthcare landscape and recognizes patients participating in those programs as using cannabis under a lawful medical framework.
ASA’s new guide explains what this change means for patients, caregivers, providers, advocates, and institutions that continue to rely on outdated policies treating medical cannabis patients as categorically engaged in illegal drug use.
“Medical cannabis patients have waited decades for federal recognition, but recognition alone does not protect someone from losing housing, employment, healthcare, benefits, or custody,” said Steph Sherer, ASA founder and executive director. “Patients now have new federal protections and privileges, but they must be ready to claim them. ASA created this guide because rights do not enforce themselves, and stigma will not disappear just because the law changed.”
Federal laws affect far more than whether a patient can possess cannabis. For years, medical cannabis patients were excluded from basic protections in housing, employment, healthcare, federal services, public programs, and other areas of daily life. The new legal framework validates the real-world experiences of patients and medical professionals and creates a foundation for patients to demand fair treatment.
The guide explains that protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act now apply to medical cannabis patients participating in state-approved programs. However, ASA warns that agencies, employers, landlords, healthcare facilities, and public programs may not automatically update their policies simply because federal law has changed. The guide provides tools patients and caregivers can use to assert their rights, request written explanations, document discrimination, and demand individualized review.
“Federal medical cannabis laws have changed. Stigma will delay implementation,” Sherer said. “Some systems will move slowly. Some will resist. Some may try to ignore this change altogether. That is why patients, caregivers, providers, advocates, and allies must act now.”
The guide includes resources such as a “Notice of Federal Legal Status & Nondiscrimination Rights of Medical Cannabis Patients” one-pager to help educate employers, housing providers, healthcare providers, government agencies, federally funded programs, and service providers. It also includes guidance on documenting discrimination, maintaining current patient or caregiver registration, requesting policies and decisions in writing, and educating communities about the new federal framework.
ASA launches campaign to end medical cannabis patient discrimination
As part of the campaign, ASA is collecting collecting reports from patients, caregivers, veterans, workers, tenants, parents, service members, and others who have experienced discrimination because of medical cannabis.
“Documentation is not just paperwork,” Sherer said. “It is how individual experiences become evidence for policy change. Every denial letter, drug testing policy, housing notice, or refusal of care helps show federal agencies and lawmakers where outdated systems are still harming patients.”
ASA is working to ensure that no medical cannabis patient is punished for using cannabis as medicine. Reports submitted to ASA will help identify patterns, educate policymakers, support legal and administrative advocacy, and push agencies, institutions, and private actors to update harmful policies.
The campaign also includes a call on the White House, the Department of Justice, and federal agencies to ensure the new federal cannabis framework has practical meaning for patients. ASA is asking federal agencies to review and update policies, forms, enforcement practices, program rules, grant conditions, and guidance documents that still rely on outdated Schedule I assumptions.
Federal policy must now move from automatic exclusion to individualized review, reasonable accommodation, patient safety, clinical judgment, and actual evidence of risk. A cannabis-positive test alone should not be treated as proof of impairment, misconduct, unsafe conduct, poor performance, or lack of fitness for duty.
ASA is also urging Congress to oversee implementation and to finish what the DOJ started by requiring federal agency cooperation through the appropriations process and by passing comprehensive medical cannabis legislation.
“AG Order No. 6754-2026 is historic, but it is not the finish line,” Sherer said. “Patients need every federal agency to update its policies, and Congress must create a national medical cannabis program that protects patients, supports research, improves product safety, integrates cannabis into healthcare, and ends the patchwork of conflicting rules that leaves patients vulnerable.”
About Americans for Safe Access
Americans for Safe Access is a leading medical cannabis patient advocacy organization. Founded in 2002, ASA works to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA advances patient rights, product safety, healthcare integration, patient protections, research, and federal and state policies that recognize cannabis as medicine.
