Vicksburg family practitioner Dr. Randy Easterling has been appointed by the American Medical Association to serve on a task force to study the efficacy, if any, of Medicinal Marijuana.

The task force will study available research and present guidelines for the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

Easterling has been in the private practice of family medicine and addiction medication in Vicksburg for the past 33 years. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in chemistry from Mississippi College in 1973 and later obtained his Master’s Degree in counseling psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1977.

He attended the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and received his MD in 1984. After medical school, he completed a residency in Family Medicine at the University of Alabama-College of Community Health Sciences in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where he was chief resident his last year.

In 1987, Easterling became a Diplomate with the American Academy of Family Practice and was named a Fellow with the American Board of Family Practice in 1998.

He earned his certification by the American Board of Addiction Medicine in 2002 and was named a fellow with the American Society of Addiction Medicine in 2019.

He served as president of the Mississippi State Medical Association from 2009-2010 and was appointed by then-Gov. Haley Barbour in 2006 to serve a six-year term on the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure.

He was reappointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to serve an additional six-year term. In November 2011, Bryant appointed him to head his health care transition team and in 2017 he appointed him to serve as vice chairman for the Governor’s Opioid and Heroin Study Taskforce.