Author: talana

New Medical Marijuana Manufacturing Guidelines Issued by National Herbal Medicine Industry Group

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Washington, D.C. — The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) released its long-awaitedmedical marijuana manufacturing guidelines today, completing its compendium of industry standards which include regulatory recommendations for cannabis from seed to sale. The AHPA manufacturing guidelines come as licensed Colorado business “At Home Baked” sees the country’s first medical marijuana product recall.

A new nationwide program called Patient Focused Certification (PFC), a project of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), aims to bring greater standardization to the medical marijuana industry. The PFC program uses the recently completed AHPA guidelines in combination with standards set byAmerican Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) for the plant’s identity, purity, quality and botanical properties. Together, these standards have the means to bring greater accountability to the industry and increased safety for patients.

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First Medical Marijuana Businesses in Arizona, New Mexico Gain National Certification

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Phoenix, AZ & Santa Fe, NM — Three businesses in Arizona and New Mexico were certified today by a new nationwide program that verifies the quality and reliability of medical marijuana produced, analyzed, and sold. The state-licensed dispensary New Mexicann of Santa Fe was the first in the state to be certified by the Patient Focused Certification (PFC) program for its production and distribution practices. The licensed dispensary Harvest of Tempe was the first licensed medical marijuana business in Arizona to be certified, and AZ Med Testing of Phoenix is the first laboratory in the country to be certified by the PFC program.

The PFC program is a project of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the only nonprofit, third-party certification for the medical marijuana industry based on new quality standards issued by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the American Herbal Pharmacopeia (AHP).

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Cannabis Advocates Seek Natural Product Industry Expertise

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by Sandy Almendarez, Natural Products INSIDER

While the botanical has been popular in the United States for centuries, January 2014 saw a bump in cannabis discussion with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing that the state will be the 22nd state to offer medical marijuana to select patients. Plus, Colorado’s Amendment 64 was implemented allowing adults (21 years and older) to grow, possess and use marijuana. At the end of February, business was clearly booming in Colorado. Gov. John W. Hickenlooper revamped his budget based on taxes the state has already collected from marijuana sales. He estimated the state’s marijuana industry could produce close to USD $134 million in taxes and fees for the State in the next fiscal year. The estimate proposed to voters when the initiative was on the ballot in 2013 was $70 million.

And The New York Times reported in Washington, where retail sales of marijuana will begin in June, budget forecasters estimated marijuana could bring the state nearly $190 million in taxes for the four years beginning in mid 2015.

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Seattle Medical Marijuana Dispensary is First in Washington State to Achieve National Certification

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Seattle, WA — The first medical marijuana dispensary in Washington State was certified today under a recently launched nationwide program that verifies the quality and reliability of products sold at licensed medical marijuana businesses. Today’s certificate awarded to Dockside Co-op of Seattle is based on the Patient Focused Certification (PFC) program, a project of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and the only nonprofit, third-party certification for the medical marijuana industry based on new quality standards issued by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the American Herbal Pharmacopeia (AHP).

“In the face of failure by state legislators to develop sensible dispensary regulations in Washington State, the Patient Focused Certification program encourages the industry to adhere to important safety and quality standards,” said Maria Moses, Co-founder and Director at Dockside Co-op, which has been located in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle for more than 3 years. “This program gives the industry a baseline to affirm what we’re doing right and to improve upon the service we provide to patients.”

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Berkeley medical marijuana dispensary certified by nonprofit advocacy group

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by Chris Trill, The Daily Californian

Americans for Safe Access, a nonprofit cannabis-advocacy group, certified two Bay Area medical marijuana dispensaries Feb. 20 in an effort to encourage standardized cannabis quality.

The two dispensaries — Berkeley Patients Group, the largest and oldest medical marijuana dispensary in the city, and San Francisco Patient and Resource Center, a nonprofit cannabis collective — are the first in the country to be certified by ASA on standards that focus on the quality of the product as outlined by American Herbal Products Association and American Herbal Pharmacopoeia.

Both establishments were certified through the Patient Focused Certification program, a third-party and nonprofit certification process offered by ASA.

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National Medical Marijuana Group Certifies First Dispensaries in Effort to Bring Quality Standards to the Industry

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San Francisco, CA — Patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) certified the first two dispensaries in the country today for its new nationwide program that verifies the quality and reliability of products sold at licensed medical marijuana businesses. The certifications issued today to Berkeley Patients Group and SPARC of San Francisco are based on the Patient Focused Certification (PFC) program, the only nonprofit, third-party certification for the medical marijuana industry based on new quality standards issued by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the American Herbal Pharmacopeia (AHP).

“The Patient Focused Certification program is long overdue,” said Sebastopol Mayor Robert Jacob, who is also director of Peace in Medicine and SPARC, the San Francisco-based medical marijuana dispensary certified today. “Patients deserve to know that the products they receive are of the highest standard,” continued Mayor Jacob. “As Mayor of Sebastopol, I am relieved to know that there are product safety standards established by a trusted national organization to help guide local governments.”

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New Nationwide Certification Program Brings Quality Assurance to the Medical Marijuana Industry

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Washington, D.C. — Patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) launched a new nationwide program today that will certify the quality and reliability of medical marijuana products sold at licensed businesses. Patient Focused Certification (PFC) is the only nonprofit, third-party certification for the medical marijuana industry based on new quality standards issued by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) and the American Herbal Pharmacopeia (AHP).

Earlier this year, AHPA issued a series of recommendations for state regulators, providing standards for the medical marijuana industry in the areas of manufacturing, packaging and labeling, dispensary operations, and laboratory practices. AHPA has since issued standards for commercial medical marijuana products, as well as the reliability and quality of related services. More recently, AHP released a cannabis monograph that set standards for the plant’s identity, purity, quality, and botanical properties.

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Marijuana as a Botanical Medicine

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Check out our Google Hangout to hear from a panel of experts including AHP Executive Director Roy Upton, RH, DAyu; Professor Lyle Craker, PhD, of University of Massachusetts Amherst; and Dr. Michelle Sexton, ND, and Dr. Jahan Marcu, PhD, of the Americans for Safe Access Multidisciplinary Scientific Advisory Board on the significance of the Cannabis monograph and the new PFC certification program.

Certification Program for Cannabis Businesses Launching

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Americans for Safe Access (ASA) will launch its standards and certification program for medical marijuana businesses later this week.

The Patient Focused Certification program aims to offer industry wide operational standards and best practices via third-party certification of dispensaries, cultivation operations, cannabis testing labs and manufacturing, packaging and labeling companies. (Here’s a link to extensive details and an application.)

Businesses that meet the criteria will be able to use a seal of approval in their marketing materials and on packaging, which could give them an edge over competitors should the program gain the trust of patients.

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