Mississippi Edition

Mississippians prepare to vote on medical marijuana.

Then, legislators hold a joint hearing of Medicaid committees to discuss technical amendments to the Medicaid bill.

Plus, after a Southern Remedy Health Minute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation releases it’s State of Childhood Obesity Report.

Segment 1:

Mississippians are sharing their thoughts about legalizing medical marijuana at a town hall event before the November Election. At an event in Jackson last night, voters turned out to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of Ballot Initiative 65 - which could legalize medical marijuana within the framework of the state constitution - and Alternative Measure 65A - which was introduced by legislators to offer more over oversight from state government.

Segment 2:

Mississippi lawmakers are holding hearings with medical providers to decide how Medicaid should be operated. Medicaid provides healthcare for more than 700,000 low-income Mississippians, and lawmakers want to hear concerns from mental and health care providers as they decide what, if any, changes should be made to the program. Democratic Senator David Blount of Jackson, is on the Medicaid Committee. He explains the technical amendment hearings with our Desare Frazier.

Segment 3:

Southern Remedy Health Minute

Segment 4:

Roughly one in seven U.S. youth ages 10-17 have obesity according to the newest available data. The data are included in a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, State of Childhood Obesity: Prioritizing Children’s Health During the Pandemic. As experts link obesity to increased risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms, the report promotes changes to prioritize children’s health and improve equity in response to the pandemic and throughout recovery. Jamie Bussel is a Senior Program Officer with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.