Florida A&M University (FAMU) Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative (MMERI) will provide on-site information on medical marijuana and the impact of the unlawful use of marijuana at the First Annual 2019 Fun Run/Walk 1 mile & 5K event on Saturday.
Sponsored by the Holistic Cannabis Community and NORML Tallahassee, the event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at Anita Plaza, Cascades Trail, 116 W. Van Buren St., Tallahassee. It is free and open to the public.
MMERI Interim Executive Director Patricia Green-Powell, Ph.D., said the event came about as a result of the FAMU Student Government Association forum earlier this week. One of the attendees, Melissa Villar, executive director of NORML Tallahassee and president of the Holistic Cannabis Community, extended an invitation to the MMERI staff.
“Naturally, any time we get the opportunity to reach Florida’s diverse communities, we want to be there. We are happy to support community wellness, both from a health and public safety perspective,” Green-Powell said. “As our momentum in the community builds, so do these types of opportunities and we are appreciative of the invitations.”
Villar said the mission of the Holistic Cannabis Community and NORML Tallahassee is community outreach and education particularly with FAMU and minority communities. Forming partnerships is key to a strong, diverse medical marijuana program, she said. NORML has 150 domestic and international chapters.
“We want to assist both the University and the public with education, information and research,” Villar said. “We hope to strengthen the partnership going forward and share ideas. Information dissemination is instrumental to understanding the disparities and cost barriers that exist within the state’s medical marijuana program.”
The FAMU MMERI was launched in response to the Florida Legislature’s funding allocation to educate “minorities about marijuana for medical use and the impact of the unlawful use of marijuana on minority communities.”
