On October 4th Florida A&M University’s Medical Marijuana Education and Reseach Initiative launched MMERI Forum Radio. The radio program is an expansion of its successful community forums held in Tallahassee, Orlando, Pensacola, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami.
MMERI is a weekly program that airs for half an hour on Friday and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on WANM Radio 90.5 FM in Tallahassee and southern Georgia on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on WILD Radio 95.5 FM in West Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast.
MMERI Forum Radio features co-host Patricia Green-Powell, Ph.D., MMERI interim executive director, and Angela Hardiman, MERI public affairs liaison. The show is also produced by MMERI Communication Liaison and FAMU Associate Director of Communication Carol Angela Davis, JD.
The radio show program is an 8-episode series featuring conversations with pastors, law enforcement, legislators, pharmacist and medical doctors discussing medical marijuana and illicit marijuana use.
Director of Medical Marijuana Project, Peter Harris, explained the source of funding.
“The Department of Health is funding us to actually look into educating the public on the value of medical marijuana but at the same time, educating the public on consequences of illicit use,” Harris said.
Green-Powell came onboard MMERI in early August and made the expansion of community forum at the public’s convenience one of her chief objectives.
“We receive such gratitude from the public for our community forums that I immediately identified this format as an excellent way of getting to the heart of the information gap in Florida’s diverse communities and doing it in a way that makes the information easily accessible,” said Green-Powell.
The radio program 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.
Joshua Brown, a junior business student at FAMU was excited to hear about the new program.
“I’m excited about the radio program. it is going to be interesting to understand the medical perspective of medical marijuana and understand the dangers that marijuana recreational use can have on a community,” said Brown.
FAMU receives $10 for every $75 identification card purchased by individuals approved to purchase medical marijuana as part of the 2017 legislation.
MMERI wants to establish FAMU as a touchstone center for marijuana information, fill in the gaps in medical marijuana research particularly as it relates to diverse communities and to inform public policy, in Florida and beyond about the impact and issues presented by the developing marijuana industry.