Gov. Wes Moore recently announced the appointment of three University of Maryland, Baltimore faculty members to the Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council under the Maryland Department of Health.

Mat Swinburne, JD; Leah Sera, PharmD; David Gorelick, MD, PhD

Governor Moore’s appointments to the Advisory Council are:

• Mathew Swinburne, JD, associate director, Network for Public Health Eastern Region, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
• Leah Sera, PharmD, MA, BCPS, associate professor and co-director, Graduate Studies in Medical Cannabis, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
• David A. Gorelick, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Established by the General Assembly in 2022 through the passage of House Bill 837, the Advisory Council will study and identify recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly on the public health impacts of cannabis legalization and strategies to mitigate youth access, misuse, and addiction to cannabis.

“I am grateful to these leaders, experts, and public servants for agreeing to serve on this critically important council,” Moore said. “As Maryland joins a growing number of states in establishing an adult-use cannabis market, we must ensure we have the right laws, policies, and strategies in place to safeguard public health, promote safe and responsible use, and prevent underage consumption, drugged driving, and misuse of cannabis products.”