The second annual Great Lakes Cannabis Education Conference (GLCEC), which debuted last year as the first large-scale gathering of cannabis education in the region, will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, in the Northern Center Ballrooms at Northern Michigan University. The conference seeks to showcase developing trends in cannabis education and scholarship, as well as insights from industry leaders and experts at the forefront of the sector's evolving landscape.
NMU has been at the cutting edge of cannabis education since it launched the first-of-its-kind medicinal plant chemistry degree program. NMU also offers a bachelor's degree in controlled environment agriculture and an associate degree in indoor agriculture, as well as cannabis operations and plant-based wellness certifications.
Speakers and panelists include faculty, scholars and students; legal, public policy and regulatory experts; and industry leaders and entrepreneurs in agriculture/growing, cultivation, manufacturing, testing and retail. The schedule follows:
8 a.m. – Check-in and coffee
8:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. - Welcome and introduction of the morning plenary and Q&A
9 a.m. – Morning plenary and Q&A
10 a.m. - “Boom, Bust and the Next Frontier: Market Insights to Michigan's Cannabis Industry as it Approaches Four Years in Business,” with Doug Mains of Honiger LLP and Carol Johnson and Corrine Bodeman of NMU's College of Business as the panelists.
11 a.m. - “The Cannabis Industry and Impacts on the Environment,” with Jelili Adebiyi of NMU's Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Department and Meghan Poglese of North Coast Cultivators.
11:45 a.m. – Lunch break and short presentation by The Fire Station Cannabis Co.
12:40-1:35 p.m. - Student research presentations and posters
2:15 p.m. - Introduction to the afternoon plenary
2:30 p.m. - “Worldwide Weed: Global Histories of Cannabis and Lessons for the Future,” by Lucas Richert, the George Urdang Chair in the History of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This talk will reflect on the plant's relationship with health, political power, and socio-economics in the wider world. In tracing a global history of the plant and its preparations, Richert will allow attendees to consider the influence of Western colonialism and biomedicine, cannabis truths and mistruths, and international control regimes on our present moment and help inform a collective cannabis future in the years ahead.
3:30 p.m. - “The Social Impacts of Legalized State Cannabis Markets,” with panelists Lucas Richert and Apoorva Reddy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Jacie Duranso of The Fire Station Cannabis Co.
4:15 p.m. - The final event will be the announcement of student awards and an overall conference wrap-up with tours of the Medicinal Plant Chemistry and Indoor Agriculture programs at NMU.
Conference tickets cost $35 for general admission, $25 for NMU faculty/staff, and $10 for students. Lunch will be provided. The Fire Station Cannabis Co. and Shimadzu are the event sponsors. Register or obtain more information here.