The rise of medical cannabis dispensaries in Georgia is highlighting the need for reform and equitable access.

One of the state's first dispensaries opened in April, offering easier access to low THC medical cannabis oils for some patients.

Valeria Valdepeña, executive director of the advocacy group Peachtree NORML, stressed there are still questions about cannabis equity and accessibility in the program, among other concerns.

"Reforming laws in general will have a wide effect on a lot of different aspects of people's lives," Valdepeña pointed out. "There's overcrowding in our prison system, there's people dying there for drug charges there's people that have felony records that impacts housing, school loans and keeps them in this poverty-stricken cycle."

Currently, first-offense possession for an ounce or less of cannabis carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in prison, and more than 40,000 Georgians are arrested every year for marijuana possession.

Apart from laws reforming marijuana arrests, Valdepeña highlighted the challenge faced by rural residents in accessing necessary resources due to the locations of existing dispensaries.

"I think we are going to need more dispensaries," Valdepeña asserted. "We are going to need delivery obviously because if you live out in rural areas it's going to be hard to come into Metro Atlanta to pick up your medicine, you can't get to the dispensary if they are a far enough distance. So I think from an accessible standpoint -- from a practical standpoint -- those are things that are going to need to be addressed."

Since 2015, the number of patients in the Georgia Department of Public Health's Low-THC Oil Patient Registry has surged more than 50%, from 13,000 to more than 27,000.


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By Sunnivie Brydum and Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes! Magazine.
Broadcast version by Shanteya Hudson for Georgia News Connection reporting for the YES! Media-Public News Service Collaboration

For more than 40 years, a bill to establish a congressional commission to consider reparations to Black Americans has languished in Congress. House Resolution 40, originally drafted by the late Rep. John Conyers, has been introduced in every congressional session since 1989.

Reparations are about more than just a check or financial restitution. At their root, reparations are about repair-recognizing the historic and ongoing harm caused by the trans-Atlantic slave trade and all that followed, including Jim Crow segregation, voter suppression, continued police violence, and ongoing systemic racism in housing, employment, education, and more.

Despite continued resistance at the federal level to provide reparations to descendants of enslaved Africans, the United States does have a history of issuing reparations-reparations were issued to Japanese Americans who were unjustly detained during World War II. In fact, when enslaved people were emancipated, the U.S. government issued reparations-to former slaveholders, in recognition of the loss of their "property." Yet the U.S. continues to lack the political will to seriously consider making reparations to Black Americans.

In the face of political intransigence, Black organizers, community members, and movement leaders have created a rich ecosystem to manifest reparations at both the state and local levels.

HR 40 now has nearly 200 sponsors, and there are calls for President Biden to sign an executive order appointing a commission to study reparations. Rep. Cori Bush has introduced a new bill with a concrete figure of $14 trillion to fund compensation for the descendants of enslaved people. Spurred by grassroots momentum-especially in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020-states such as California and cities such as Evanston, Illinois, are even further along in the project of reparations.

YES! was privileged to be the media partner of the inaugural Alight, Align, Arise conference-a historic and unprecedented national convening on reparations hosted by the Decolonizing Wealth Project. Over the course of three days in June 2023, hundreds of activists, organizers, politicians, and funders gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, to connect, collaborate, and take action to make reparations a reality in our lifetimes. On the final day of the conference, DWP announced a $20 million campaign to support the reparations ecosystem with a new round of direct grantmaking of $3 million to be deployed in 2023, in addition to other resource and education programs to support the reparations movement over the next five years.


Sunnivie Brydum and Sonali Kolhatkar wrote this article for YES! Magazine.

A report on conditions in Oregon's only women's prison has prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to assemble an advisory panel which will meet for the first time this week.

The Gender Informed Practices Assessment was ordered by the state and released in mid-August. It details unsafe conditions at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, including a high number of attempted suicides, lack of mental health resources, and staff and inmate reports of sexual misconduct.

Bobbin Singh, executive director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, said the report should generate action.

"I hope this GIPA report actually provides a meaningful wake-up call to public officials in all three branches of government to actually look at this and be concerned," Singh urged. "Because essentially what we're describing is human rights violations happening in our state."

Kotek's panel meets on Thursday. Singh pointed out conditions in the prison have been well documented. In July, his organization released a report with stories from people suffering inside Coffee Creek.

Singh argued it is up to every branch of government to fix the situation.

"To the task force itself, we'll see what happens with that," Singh observed. "Unless there's meaningful oversight of the Department of Corrections, there's no way to know if anything that's recommended by this task force will be implemented or implemented well."

Singh hopes the report will reveal what is allegedly happening to people who are incarcerated in Coffee Creek, and allow the public to make its own determination regarding the prison's unsafe conditions.

"It's true, we're not being hyperbolic, we're not just saying things for the sake of saying things," Singh stressed. "This is how we're treating people here in Oregon."


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Rural areas in North Carolina have long been grappling with limited access to services, from health care to internet access, and a unique nonprofit group is taking on these challenges and others, with young people at the helm.

Called "A Better Chance, A Better Community," the organization in Halifax County is nicknamed "ABC-2."

Makayla Johnson, recreational facilitator for the group, said one initiative it is focusing on is recreation equity, because having recreational opportunities is key to better health.

"In order for a community to be healthy and happy, they have to have access to things they can do, and recreation is not just having parks," Johnson emphasized. "It's making sure the areas are walkable and bikeable around town; it's having things for our seniors to do, it's having things for our kids to do. So, it's about creating opportunities."

Johnson pointed out they are also helping with resources to fight food insecurity, which is a big problem in rural North Carolina. ABC 2 developed a local produce box program, offering fresh foods to community members. The group is part of the Healthy Opportunities Pilot program with the state. One of the ABC-2 campaigns, School Meals for All, advocates for free breakfast and lunch at schools.

Right now, many rural areas are using American Rescue Plan Act funding to help build up broadband service. The North Carolina Department of Information and Technology estimates more than one million households in the state still lack internet access.

Johnson stressed they are making sure their communities are part of the conversation. She said ABC-2 is focusing on how to build digital inclusion, post-pandemic.

"We have a Digital Inclusion Task Force, also tying in the work we're doing to the digital inclusion conversation, because a lot of counties in the state, but also in our area, notice an issue with the lack of broadband," Johnson explained. "That's one of the main focuses that they're going to do for the ARPA funding."

She added the group also participates in events like "Party at the Polls," engaging more young people in the political process by helping them register to vote. The goal is to encourage them to learn more and make informed decisions which will affect their own health and well-being.


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