The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics organized a presentation and a panel of experts called “Pot Goes Public” to discuss and answer questions about the legalization of medical marijuana in Mississippi on Feb. 22 in the Overby Center auditorium.
Panelists included founder of Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance Angie Calhoun, University of Mississippi Chief of Police Daniel Sanford, and the Mississippi Department of Health State Health Officer Daniel Edney.
Violet Jira, a junior philosophy and journalism double major and managing editor for The Daily Mississippian, facilitated the panel of experts and asked questions throughout the event.
Charles Mitchell, an Overby Freshman Fellow and associate professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi, hosted the event.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” Mitchell said. “One of the functions of a journalism center such as this is to get the people who are in the best position to separate fact from myth and give that information to the public.”
Mitchell kickstarted the event with a timeline of marijuana law in the state and the country at large, highlighting the tumultuous path legislation has taken since the drug was initially federally…
