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cannabis patient care
advocate focus
He has been meeting with the CIT group for the last three
years along with a member of the NAACP, a couple of commu-
nity leaders, the training officer, the chief of training from the
Cobb County police, and one of the emergency crisis officers.
"It was really designed with a primary focus on aiding emo-
tionally distressed individuals with a predominant focus on
black males, police, and EMS," he said.
What he discovered working with the group is that some-
times when there's an emotionally disturbed male, people
automatically call the police. "If it's a white male, they're a
little bit more diplomatic in a lot of cases," Atkins said. "But
we found out that when it was a black male who was showing
signs of emotional instability, they automatically
criminalized him."
The organization is looking at developing the CIT into a na-
tional program. They appointed their first few crisis response
officers trained to help understand the difference between
helping someone with an emotional crisis and bringing in law
enforcement to intervene, which tends to escalate a mental
health situation.
Then in 2020, Atkins founded The Stanley Group, a consult-
ing company which focuses on connecting businesses with re-
sources needed within the cannabis industry, offering consul-
tation and connections for people seeking medical cannabis.
"I realized that some of the things that I was doing in indus-
trial hemp and medical cannabis didn't directly tie into The
Good Medic," he said. "Right now, we're working on tying in
some clients with our growing ancillary market and seeing
how we can leverage that with the Georgia medical cannabis
market that's set to go live this summer. It's been a
great opportunity."
He is hoping to on take The Stanley Group national, working
with multistate operators plus international clients.
Conclusion
Over time, as Atkins has pursued his advocacy organizations
and built his business interests, he continued to self-medicate
with cannabis. "When I started this, I started out going down to
the capitol wearing two knee braces, a wrist brace and walk-
ing on a cane," Atkins said. "I'm proud to say that through my
continued pursuit of alternative wellness, I'm now not wearing
knee braces. I don't even know where my cane is. I'm still alive.
That's probably the thing I'm most proud of."
There has been progress in Georgia on cannabis. There
have been 12 different jurisdictions in the state that have
decriminalized cannabis possession, some of which was
prompted by a hemp law Atkins helped pass in the state, he
explained. "Law enforcement was pulling people over that
had hemp flower in jars or bags where they purchased it," At-
kins said. "They were arresting people for hemp. Then the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a statement advis-
ing that they would no longer test suspected
cannabinoid products."
Atkins is planning a decriminalization ordinance this
spring. "It is going to be, by far, the most difficult that I've
ever par ticipated in. I've really planned this one close to the
chest. I'm going to attempt to decriminalize Griffin, Georgia,
which is my home town," he said. "I've already spoken at a
city council meeting. I've spoken with the mayor. I've spoken
with the chairman of the board of the city council, as well as
members from the education and school board. I'm working
on putting together a community rally at a park with a per-
mit across the street from the cour thouse. We're going to
have an active engagement and have speakers there to dis-
cuss the potential impacts that these types of ordinances
can have."
He also has aspirations for public office. "I realized that
in order for me to truly be impactful in the future, I'm going
to have to run for office," he said. "But I tell you, the strong-
est way to get involved is see who's already doing the work
in your area. There is no need for us to reinvent the wheel
and ever ybody star t a new organization. It's really about a
pooling of resources. Find something that you're passion-
ate about and let that be your driving force. I tell people, my
number one saying is advocacy does not pay, but it does
pay off."
References
(1) https://winshipcancer.emory.edu.
(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3576702/.
(3) https://www.rxlist.com/cymbalta-drug.htm.
(4) https://www.drugs.com/celexa.html.
(5) http://devold.norml.org/chapters/item/peachtree-norml?category_id=853.
(6) https://www.georgiacannabis.org/business-directory/georgia-care/.
(7.) https://safeamerica.org.
(8) https://10times.com/cannabis-convention-atlanta.
(9) https://mjbizconference.com.
(10) https://minorities4medicalmarijuana.org/about-us.
(11) https://www.gpstc.org/about-gpstc/training-divisions/georgia-police-
academy/gpa-sections/crisis-intervention-team-cit-training/.
