Steph Sherer

Steph Sherer is the founder and President of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists, and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.

Her direct experience with the medical benefits of cannabis and her political organizing background led Sherer to form ASA in 2002 with the purpose of building a strong grassroots movement to protect patients and their rights. As a powerful advocate, a skilled spokesperson, and an energetic initiator of campaigns, Sherer has trained over 100,000 individuals across the country on civic engagement.

Since its inception, ASA has successfully shifted the national debate around medical cannabis, which has focused solely on the legality and ethics of arresting and prosecuting patients for cannabis use, to the real concerns of patients, such as access and civil protections. ASA has worked with lawmakers across the country to adopt and improve medical cannabis legislation and regulatory policy in 36 states, the District of Columbia, and many US territories as well as representing patients on Capitol Hill.

Sherer has become the foremost international leader and expert on medical cannabis patient advocacy and, alongside the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), has created the first cannabis market standards in the areas of Distribution, Cultivation, Analytics, Manufacturing, Packaging, and Labeling which are the core of ASA's Patient Focused Certification program (PFC).