Category: Press Releases

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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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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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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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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