From The Weed Blog by Leah Maurer June 17 2022
Cannabis has been used as a medicine for millennia, embedded in the cultural practices of people of color from around the world.
From June 20-21, 2022, the Association for Cannabis Health Equity and Medicine (ACHEM), a nonprofit medical association advancing and supporting Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) health professionals and healers, will honor that history and legacy with a Global Health Summit centered around the history and culture of cannabis from communities of color. This year’s summit builds on the success of the 2021 launch, which debuted a powerful Black American history of cannabis that has transformed health awareness, birthing a revolutionary concept called CHEM(h)ist(o)ry, created to highlight the stories of people of color and their cultural experiences with cannabis. This year, the association brings together its esteemed board of directors to share the indigenous history of cannabis from cultures around the world and empower BIPOC communities to use those practices to expand health and economic equity.
ACHEM’s 2022 Global Health Summit
ACHEM’s 2022 Global Health Summit will illuminate experiences of indigenous people throughout history that center cultural justice and health equity. Its ambitious goal is to better identify the roots of misappropriation and disparity and reincorporate valuable and sacred ancient knowledge into the daily lives of those who need it most.
“This summit is an unparalleled opportunity to use our shared cultural history to elevate communities of color and advance health equity and its four pillars of economic, environmental, human, and social justice, ” said ACHEM Interim Executive Director Dr. Kaya/Angela Ledbetter, MD. “Achieving health equity starts with understanding our legacy with cannabis and channeling it to inspire those most harmed by prohibition to tap into the growing legal industry for wellness and economic advancement.”
“It’s up to us to redesign what education means for our communities. We need to get this enrichment to our people, so they are ready to accept the healing gifts the earth brings.”
– Dr. Janice Knox, MD, ACHEM Founding Board Member.
During the virtual two-day summit, ACHEM board members, such as President and Co-Founder Dr. Oga Obie, MD and Dr. June Chin, DO, Hursana LLC CEO and Chief Medical Officer, will recount the varied cultural and continental histories of Nigeria, China, Colombia, Dominica, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Indigenous North America to promote global health equity and explore diverse applications of the cannabis plant. ACHEM’s board will be joined by respected industry trailblazers such as Jason Ortiz, Executive Director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, MD Co-founder and Co-director, Advanced Integrative Medical Science Institute.
Health equity is at the heart of ACHEM’s purpose. For too long, systemic racism has perpetuated negative health outcomes, leading to higher rates of illness and death in communities of color. ACHEM is eliminating these inequities by training and empowering individuals entering health fields and amplifying the voices of Black and Brown medical professionals and healers. Cannabis prohibition has devastated many communities around the world; ACHEM believes that cannabis, and its global histories, can be used to heal that damage.
For more information about ACHEM’s Global Health Summit 2022, click here.
What is ACHEM?
ACHEM is a reliable and powerful resource of cannabis knowledge that is redefining health equity, combining it with evidence-based scientific research, sharp critical thinking skills, continuous interaction with innovation and new scientific information, and ethical loyalty to pass our knowledge on to the next generation of all health professionals.
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