HealthRadio.net and InsidersHealth.com will host the second installment of their four-part webcast series on medical marijuana today, featuring patients describing the medical benefits of pot and detailing their struggle to obtain the drug.
The series, called “Is it Medicine? The Medical Marijuana Debate,” aims to get the online community, patients, doctors, state officials and other individuals to interact and discuss MMJ. Tonight’s presentation features Steele Smith, who along with his wife faces a jail sentence of up to 10 years for growing, using and distributing medical marijuana through a collective he ran. All eyes in the MMJ industry are on the Smith trial, as it could have huge implications in California and nationally. It ranks as the first time a federal judge has allowed a defendant to use state medical marijuana laws as a defense to federal charges.
The webcast – which will be held at 6 p.m. Eastern time and can be accessed here – is audio-based, though listeners are encouraged to ask questions via Health Radio’s Facebook page and on Twitter (hashtag #IsItMed). The moderator will monitor the social media sites and present select questions to patients.
“This is a potentially life-changing decision many Americans are facing right now, and we’re creating a unique online opportunity to make the discussion an interactive one with our listeners in a way that reaches millions,” said Tim Disa, HealthRadio.net’s vice president of operations. ” We hope to open this up to a real dialogue about the issue.”
The MMJ industry will be particularly interested in the third installment of the series, which focuses on the topic of marijuana legalization. Law enforcement officials as well as legal and political experts will participate in the webcast, to be held Jan. 10.