Our Origins

SRCF emerged from necessity. 

In the mid-1990s, patients using cannabis for serious medical conditions faced criminal exposure, social stigma, and systemic exclusion. There were few safeguards, little education, and virtually no infrastructure to protect patient rights or inform law enforcement, healthcare providers, and legislators.

SRCF was formed to fill that void.

From its earliest days, the Foundation focused on building practical, defensible frameworks—not slogans. That work directly contributed to the passage of landmark medical cannabis laws in Oregon and helped establish operational models that other grassroots organizations, and states would later study, mimic and adapt.

A Model That Worked

SRCF is widely regarded as one of the original incubators of the modern medical cannabis movement with many notable innovators going on to foster major change on behalf of patients. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the opportunity to be a part of your winning ingredients! Through disciplined administration, compliance-forward education, policy engagement, and even patient-grower and grower-patient mediations, the Foundation demonstrated that patient protection, public safety, and regulatory coherence could coexist.

SRCF’s influence extends beyond Oregon. Working through a National framework, the SRCF informed national conversations on medical cannabis policy, patient registries, cultivation standards, research access, and civil liberties—long before these issues entered mainstream discourse. Our researchers have helped incubate some of the most successful programs in the country with regards to state programs. In contrast, those very same researchers successfully helped a boutique firm in Manhattan, NY to list the first cannabis-exclusive pharmaceutical on the New York Stock Exchange (one that has gone on to expand beyond cannabinoid-based medicines into psychedelics).

In service to all, we sincerely want everyone to succeed, have a happy healthy life and do what is right for their fellow humans (and animals) when given the opportunity.

Our Mission

SRCF exists to:

• Protect patient rights and dignity

• Advance ethical, evidence-informed policy

• Educate communities, providers, and policymakers

• Support responsible research and innovation

• Ensure access remains affordable, safe, and patient-centered

We believe patient rights and healthcare policy should be shaped by lived experience, data, and compassion—not fear, misinformation, or profit-first motives.