Marijuana Anonymous World Services currently has ten Conference Committees: Conferences & Conventions (CoCo), Correspondence, Finance, Hospitals & Institutions (H&I), Internet, Literature, Newcomer Support, Outreach, Public Information, and Policies and Procedures (P&P). All Members are assigned to Committees, except for the MAWS President who is an ex-officio member of all Committees. Members are expected to continue participating throughout the following year.
The Committees and their responsibilities are:
- Conferences and Conventions Committee
- The Conferences and Conventions committee acts as liaison between previous, present and future host district conference and convention teams to facilitate communications, information sharing and collaboration. The committee works closely with other responsible committees to distribute information (e.g. mawsconference.org), develop an information repository and related tasks such as online registration, budget development, and district support.
- Correspondence Committee
- The Correspondence committee is responsible for facilitating responses to the 800 helpline and emails, as needed, other requests for support and general information from the general public, medical professionals, and those affected by another’s marijuana use seeking support for a loved-one. The committee maintains a log of its contacts and the committee’s responses to them as well as other data collection as deemed useful.
- Finance Committee
- The Finance Committee is charged with the responsibility of organizing the financial affairs of Marijuana Anonymous World Services. The committee drafts an annual budget and recommends other financial priorities for MAWS. The Treasurer Trustess also supervises the work during the year of the MA World Services Financial Special Workers.
- Hospitals and Institutions Committee
- The H&I committee is responsible for setting forth guidelines to districts on service at hospitals and institutions. This includes review of the H&I Handbook, related pamphlets and literature, helping districts establish H&I committees and more effectively carry the message of MA to the marijuana addict who is confined, in treatment, or has no other way of hearing our message.
- Internet Committee
- The Internet committee’s responsibility is to serve all of MA World Services’ internet-related functions, websites, and is also responsible for the management and development of the MA App.
- Literature Committee
- The Literature Committee is responsible for drafting and recommending for approval Marijuana Anonymous’ literature. This includes translated versions of Conference-approved material such as Life with Hope and all MA pamphlets.
- Newcomer Support Committee
- Newcomer Support Committee is responsible for responding to requests for support from members who are new to the MA fellowship by offering program and meeting information. Newcomer Support occasionally hosts introductory workshops about Steps 1,2, and 3 and Sponsorship.
- Outreach Committee
- The Outreach Committee supports the primary purpose of carrying the message of recovery to marijuana addicts by facilitating correspondence with meetings and districts throughout the world. The function is to ensure that meetings and districts are aware of the support made available by MAWS.
- Policies and Procedures Committee
- The P&P committee is responsible for issues concerning the structure and organization of Marijuana Anonymous World Service. The P&P committee debates and recommends policy changes in the Service Manual and other policy documents of MA. The committee also considers the relationship between MA as a Society, MA World Services as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, and the legal rights and obligations in which MA exists. The P&P subcommittee “Service Inventory Group” helps to regulate any internal issues that may arise regarding 12 Traditions and placing Principles before Personalities
- Public Information Committee
- The PI committee is responsible for setting forth the guidelines to the districts on organizing and maintaining MA’s outreach to the general community and includes investigating and developing ways to carry the message of recovery to marijuana addicts worldwide. The function of this committee includes creating and recommending for approval: Public Information manual, public service announcements and guidelines to be used by district PI committees when communicating with the public at-large. The PI committee is also responsible for the website content.
In addition to these committees which meet at the Conference yearly, an additional committee is formed earlier in the year to prepare for the Conference. It should be understood that the Conference Agenda Committee’s business concludes at the start of Conference and that the Committee is not an actual part of the Conference.
- Conference Agenda Committee
- The Conference Agenda Committee is responsible for collecting items from the Delegates and members for consideration at the annual conference and consolidating them into the formal Conference Agenda Items document with appropriate support materials. This must be distributed to conference members at least 90 days before the conference. The Conference Agenda Committee also assigns each business item to the appropriate conference committee; assigns conference members to conference committees; provides masters of conference documents to the Host Committee for duplication and inclusion in attendee packets; and sets the business event schedule for the entire conference.