ACHEM, A New Medical Association, Offers BIPOC Economic Guidance And Education On Cannabis

The Association for Cannabis Health Equity and Medicine (ACHEM), a professional medical association for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) health providers, launched last week.

The programs and services the organization will offer center around provider education and competency training in:

• Cannabinoid medicine and endocannabinoids
• Professional advancement and economic opportunity for medical professionals in cannabis
• policy reform and regulations
• Serving the communities most harmed by the war on drugs and cannabis prohibition.

Enrich, Promote, Participate, Serve

ACHEM’s foundation is built on four guiding principles: enrich, promote, participate, and serve.

These principles seek to reflect the organization’s commitment to increasing cannabis knowledge and access in Black and Latinx communities, as well as to using cannabinoid medicine to bridge persistent health and wellness gaps through the training and empowerment of healthcare professionals.

In addition to promoting health equity, ACHEM plans to encourage Black and Brown people to explore the economic benefits of the industry.

“ACHEM is a response to ongoing missteps in policy reform and cannabis regulation around reconciling the direct and disproportionate impact of cannabis criminalization on the wellbeing of communities of color,” board chair Dr. Rachel Knox, MD, MBA, told Benzinga.

ACHEM recognizes the opportunity to leverage the evidence-backed agricultural, industrial, medical, and nutritional uses of cannabis to address many of the medical and socio-ecological problems plaguing BIPOC communities as a direct result of decades of disinvestment and maltreatment under prohibition laws, she explained.

“ACHEM was created to cultivate and support BIPOC healthcare leaders in the advancement of cannabis reform, the integration of cannabis use in medicine, and the assurance that legalization drives the holistic healing of the communities most harmed by the War on Drugs,” she said.

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Courtesy photo.