California Owes Its Sickest MED Patients a Lifeline: Pass AB 1332

Tragically, California’s sickest patients – children with treatment-resistant epilepsy, people with advanced cancers, older adults struggling with dementia – are being left behind by a cannabis market now focused on profit over patients. In dispensaries across the state, shelves are dominated by recreational cannabis products, leaving vulnerable patients without access to the specialized medicines they desperately need. 

California once led the nation in patient and consumer access to cannabis, legalizing medical cannabis in 1996 and adult-use in 2016. While all Californians benefited from legalization, the system was built on the needs of patients with debilitating conditions, yet today these patients are being abandoned. 

The focus of dispensaries on adult-use sales has severely reduced access to specialized and appropriately formulated medicinal cannabis products. In retail dispensaries, shelf space for these products has been squeezed out by high-demand, more profitable selections. Over the past few years, four out of five companies that produced products that were specifically designed and very effective for the symptoms of pediatric epilepsy and autism have gone out of business, leaving patients and their parents scrambling. Often these patients have no choice but to turn to the underground market, where products are unregulated, inconsistent and potentially unsafe. 

One of my pediatric patients, Andrew (name changed to protect privacy), has a severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which makes every day a delicate balance of care, love, and survival. For years, Andrew’s parents tried everything – different specialists, numerous pharmaceuticals, alternative treatments – but nothing stopped the seizures or the difficult behaviors and insomnia that accompanied his diagnosis. Instead, Andrew endured brutal side effects, swinging between heavy sedation and aggression, all while his parents watched helplessly, praying for each convulsion to end.

Then came cannabis. With low-dose cannabinoid treatment, Andrew’s seizures decreased, and he was able to participate in his life for the first time. 

The only cannabis producer making the medicine that helped Andrew went out of business, leaving his family once again without hope. The specific cannabinoid product that provided relief is impossible to find in any dispensary. But California lawmakers can restore hope for Andrew and others like him.  

AB 1332, introduced by Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, provides a narrow, targeted solution that does not compete with the existing cannabis market. The bill defines a narrow list of medicinal products which can be shipped directly to medical patients—or in the case of pediatric patients, their guardians—only after those patients provide a physician recommendation or state-issued MMIC card. It allows only a small subset of licensed microbusinesses with outdoor cultivation to work directly with physicians to produce specific medicines for our vulnerable patients. This is not a backdoor to more recreational sales – it is a narrow fix for patients who cannot find what they need in dispensaries.

Opponents claim AB 1332 would hurt their businesses. This is simply not true. The number of patients needing these highly specialized products is small, and these products are not sold in retail dispensaries. AB 1332 fills a gap the adult-use market cannot and will not fill. 

In a difficult budget year for the state, and a challenging economy for adult-use and recreational cannabis, this is a small but meaningful step that lawmakers can take now. Every day without access means unnecessary suffering for patients like Andrew. 

Recreational consumers and big cannabis businesses owe it to these vulnerable patients to get this right. We asked patients to share their stories to win legalization. We cannot abandon them to more pain, suffering, and hopelessness. California lawmakers must act with compassion and courage. Please stand with patients and their physicians by contacting Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Senator Anna Caballero, and Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, to express your support for AB 1332. Patients’ lives depend on it. 

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BIO:  Bonni Goldstein MD is a pediatric-trained cannabis specialty physician. She is the owner and Medical Director of Canna-Centers, a medical practice focused on treating serious and chronic illness with cannabinoid medicines. She is the author of the book Cannabis is Medicine and has published ground-breaking research of the impact of cannabis on the symptoms of severe autism.   

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