Georgia’s first Southern Cannabis Reform Conference coming

• joeff davis

The homegrown fight to legalize weed is getting fired up again.

Marijuana legalization advocates have announced Georgia’s first Southern Cannabis Reform Conference, scheduled to take place March 15-16. Organized by Peachtree NORML, a local affiliate of the national organization, the conference will mix entertainment and education, with workshops and panels planned to discuss “the how’s and why’s of cannabis reform in Georgia,” according to the press release.

In recent years, longtime state legalization advocates have jumped on the medical-marijuana bandwagon by pushing to activate the little-known Medical Marijuana Necessities Act passed by the Georgia Legislature in 1981 but long since buried under bureaucracy.

But since last November’s election brought legalized marijuana usage to Colorado and Washington, Georgia advocates have felt empowered enough to push for complete legalization.

“The dam has been broken, so to speak, with Colorado and Washington,” says Sharon Ravert, the executive director of Peachtree NORML and head of Georgia Moms For Marijuana. “We feel like it’s coming this way, and as a parent I want to make sure it’s done right.”