Steph Sherer

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.