Americans for Safe Access’s (ASA) Patient Bill of Rights
Objective
ASA has developed a patient’s Bill of Rights to help evaluate dispensaries and other providers and ensure patient welfare. Consumer advocacy is an important component in ensuring that the emerging medical cannabis industry serves the needs of patients. While state regulators and third-party certifiers also help, there is no replacement for an informed consumer who insists on fair treatment.
ASA’s Patient Bill of Rights was designed for a nationwide audience. Some rights, like personal cultivation, may not be allowed in your state.
1. You have a right to respect and non-discrimination. You have a right to considerate respectful non-discriminatory care from your dispensary.
2. You have a right to confidentiality of your health information, you have a right to talk in confidence with your provider, and to have your healthcare information protected under all applicable laws. So, you may want to ask how the dispensary handles their paperwork, files and administration to assure it is HIPPA compliant as required by Federal law.
3. You have the right to information disclosure. You have the right to accurate and easy to understand information about the local, state and federal laws and regulations. This course is going to help you with some of that information but dispensaries should also be able to provide you with this information, as well.
4. You have a right to adequate quality control. You have the right to cannabis products that are free of mold, mildew, pesticides, adulterants, and pests. You have the right to know how the cannabis was produced. All of these are questions that your dispensary should be able to answer.
5. Regardless if the state law requires you to select one provider there are provisions so that you can change your preferred dispensary but it may take a few weeks to implement the change.
6. You have the right to obtain your medicine in a safe environment, which includes but isn’t limited to security, health and safety protocols and legal business practices.
7. You have the right to have input and to make a complaint at your dispensary, without the fear of losing access. This includes complaints about waiting times, operation hours, conduct of personnel, and adequacy of the facility.
8. You have the right to medicine that is labeled and weighed accurately. No dispensary should deliberately mislead a patient about the quantity of or variety of medication that is being provided.
9. You have the right to pay a fair and reasonable price for your cannabis and cannabis products.