Cannabis Science Conference West 2022: A Few Highlights of Bridging the Gaps Between Cannabis, Science, and Medicine

For its first time hosting an event in California, the Cannabis Science Conference West chose Long Beach, California as the destination and held the event from May 18–20, 2022. Joining the analytical, medical, cultivation, and hemp tracks this year, the new psychedelics track made its debut. The conference included dozens of presentations, more than 80 exhibitors, plus an interactive workshop—the Canna Boot Camp, which gave attendees an inside look into cultivation, pre-processing, sample prep, analytical testing, extraction, and more. In addition, longtime medical cannabis advocate Montel Williams gave an inspiring and motivational plenary address about the future of the cannabis reform movement.

There were so many informative talks and connections made across the full, two-day event. Speakers gathered from across the country (and globe) to share their research and best practices with attendees. Here, we highlight one session from each track.

The analytical track featured more than 20 speakers during the two-day track. One such interesting presentation was given by Kimberly Stuck, founder of Allay Consulting, LLC. Drawing from her experience as a former restaurant and wholesale food inspector and the first cannabis public health investigator, Stuck gave an informative and detailed presentation on how to create safe facilities, mitigate risks, and how to be prepared for FDA regulation when federal legalization happens.

The medical track featured more than 16 speakers and four engrossing panel discussions on topics ranging from cannabis nurses, veterans, clinical directors, and pediatrics. The panel discussion on parents’ perspectives on pediatric cannabis included Dr. Jennifer Anderson of Bison Family Medical Centre; Janie Maedler of Rylie’s Sunshine; Tracy Ryan of NKore Therapeutics; and Rhonda Moeller, and was moderated by Dr. Bonni Goldstein, Medical Director of Canna-Centers Wellness and Education. The powerful and deeply personal discussion explored their efforts to shape legislation, advocate for access to medical cannabis, and ultimately provide the best care for children facing illness.

The one-day cultivation track featured 10 different speakers covering key topics for anyone involved in building facilities and growing plants. Autumn Karcey of Alchemy 29 gave a keynote presentation on how to make sustainable decisions in facility design, specifically how environmental parameters can determine the selection between indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse facilities. She also explored the differences between commercialization and craft cannabis, plus how cultivators can raise standards while still staying competitive by lowering their overall cost of goods sold.

The one-day hemp track featured more than 10 speakers. The notable keynote address in this track was given by Scheril Murray Powell, Esq. of Green Sustainable Strong LLC on how to successfully expand the hemp cannabinoids business and market in other countries. She covered the strengths, weaknesses, and threats of entering a new market; how to handle challenges with selling and shipping products to various countries while navigating their specific laws; and advice on how to be a good ambassador when marketing a product.

As stated above, the newly launched psychedelics track featured two-days of talks from 14 speakers as well as an interesting panel discussion on a nurse's role in the space. One of the keynote presentations in this track was given by Alison Draisin, Lead Psychotherapist at the AIMS Institute, in which she explained the new modalities of psychotherapy at the Institute: cannabis and psychedelic assisted therapy. She described how the Institute uses ketamine to support patients moving forward with psychological issues, plus the skills needed for clinicians to consider when using cannabis or psychedelics with their patients or clients.

Join us for Cannabis Science Conference East in Baltimore, Maryland September 14–16, 2022. For more information on Cannabis Science Conferences, please visit https://www.cannabisscienceconference.com/. To stay up to date on the latest information and to view photos and video from the conference, follow on social media: https://www.facebook.com/CannaScienceConference, https://www.instagram.com/cannabisscienceconference/?hl=en, https://twitter.com/cannascicon, and https://www.linkedin.com/company/cannabis-science-conference.