Pathways to Ending Federal Prohibition: An Overview of Descheduling & Rescheduling

Steph Sherer Related Seminars and Products

Founder and President

Americans for Safe Access

Steph Sherer is a pioneering international leader and expert in medical cannabis patient advocacy. Her personal experience with the therapeutic benefits of cannabis, combined with her background in political organizing, led her to establish Americans for Safe Access (ASA) in 2002. Under her guidance, ASA has grown into the nation’s largest patient-centered organization dedicated to ensuring access to medical cannabis, bridging gaps in knowledge, policy, and regulation, and promoting its recognition as a legitimate medical therapy.

For more than two decades, Sherer has spearheaded successful advocacy campaigns at the local, state, federal, and international levels. She has trained over 100,000 individuals in civic engagement, built a powerful grassroots movement for medical cannabis, and worked with lawmakers across the country to shape and improve medical cannabis legislation. As a skilled spokesperson and strategic campaigner, Sherer has consistently elevated patient voices, influencing policymakers on Capitol Hill and driving progress toward a comprehensive national medical cannabis program and the federal recognition of botanical cannabis medicines.

Sherer’s career is defined by her commitment to eradicating inequities in health and well-being. Under her leadership, ASA achieved significant milestones, including establishing state medical cannabis programs, safeguarding state laws through impact litigation, ending federal interference with these programs, and securing protections for medical professionals. ASA, under Sherer’s direction, also championed the creation of the first product safety standards for the cannabis and hemp supply chain in partnership with the American Herbal Products Association and the American Herbal Pharmacopeia, removed federal barriers to research, collaborated with the World Health Organization to acknowledge the plant’s therapeutic benefits,  helped change the international scheduling of cannabis in drug treaties, and provided guidance and data to the FDA toward recognizing “currently accepted medical use” for cannabis.

After several years spent advancing national medical cannabis frameworks abroad, guiding cutting-edge research initiatives, and reforming international drug policies, Sherer is returning to her role as Executive Director of ASA. She now leads a nationwide initiative—ASA’s “second act”—to fully integrate cannabis-based medicines into the U.S. healthcare system, ensuring that patient needs, rights, and outcomes remain central to this transformative era in medicine.

Jessica Wasserman, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

WassermanRowe

Jessica Wasserman is the founder and CEO of WassermanRowe, a DC-based law and government relations firm providing services to Food and Drug Administration-regulated industries, including  food, supplements, medical devices, botanical drugs and drugs.    She has worked in Congress, federal agencies (at both career and political levels) and major law firms.    She has worked on hemp and cannabinoid issues since the 2018 Farm Bill decriminalized and defined hemp.  Having worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she hit the ground running on the hemp harvest issues and then pivoted to the cannabis  FDA issues (Warning Letters for drug label claims compliance; GMPs; Epidiolex drug preclusion issue; GRAS; NDI) as CBD manufacturers and retailers faced these issues.   Currently, Jessica lobbies and advises on compliance on a wide range of cannabis issues, including reauthorization of the 2018 Farm Bill;  the proliferation of state laws focused on “intoxicating” cannabinoid products; compliance for edible products sold in dispensaries;  federal lobbying on the ongoing FDA cannabis scheduling review and more.  Jessica is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.

Seema Sadanandan Related Seminars and Products

Former Managing Director of Government Affairs/State Campaigns for the Alliance for Safety and Justice

Seema is an attorney and seasoned campaign strategist. Seema was Senior Policy Advisor - Racial Equity, Criminal Justice and Policing for the Biden for President campaign. Prior to that, Seema served as Managing Director of Government Affairs and State Campaigns for the Alliance for Safety and Justice. 

Seema is an experienced documentary filmmaker and campaign strategist for social movements in the United States and abroad. She is a graduate of American University’s Washington College of Law and Tulane University and currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Kenny Mack Related Seminars and Products

Strategic Advisor

United Empowerment Party

The United Empowerment Party works on the federal and with state level to provide policy guidance and to advocate for to fair and equitable legislation.  UEP works with candidates on either side of the poitical ailse who are committed embracing diverse ideas and inclusive solutions to improve and expand the cannabis industry through health care research and innovative product development.