Families, medical experts and industry insiders testified Tuesday before a group of Georgia lawmakers pushing for more outreach to black and Latino families about the state’s new medical marijuana law.
“We need to raise awareness of what it is,” said Dr. April Speed, a surgeon who specializes in breast cancer and believes medical cannabis could provide a benefit to patients. “We’re in a unique position: We all know its effectiveness, but we have the pedigrees and background that will allow people to listen.”
The second hearing of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus' Minority Committee on Medical Cannabis came as the group's chairwoman, state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler, D-Lithonia, has caught the attention of colleagues. That includes state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, who is leading the Commission on Medical Cannabis as part of a formal effort by the state to track the effect of its new law.
The commission is also charged with studying whether the law should be expanded to allow growers to harvest and distribute cannabis oil in-state, and it must present recommendations to Gov. Nathan Deal by the end of the year.
Peake, who on Tuesday was in Colorado as part of a fact-finding trip about that state's medical marijuana law, said recently that he had reached out to Dawkins-Haigler over her concerns. Among them: The state commission includes no African-Americans on the panel despite three of every 10 Georgians being black.
“The goal is to help hurting Georgians, whether black or white, rich or poor, Democrat or Republican, have access to a safe and effective medical cannabis product,” Peake said.
Georgia for the first time this year formally approved the use of a limited form of cannabis oil to treat severe forms of eight illnesses including cancer, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. More than 250 families have since qualified for the state’s new medical marijuana registry, allowing them to use the oil in treatment.
African-American lawmakers successfully fought to include sickle cell disease on the treatment list, but they still want consideration of other diseases that have a disproportionate effect on people of color.
Dawkins-Haigler has said her group will issue its own policy recommendations when the Legislature returns in January.
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