Prohibition Partners LIVE - Day One Review: Science, Research & Technology
OVER the next three days, Prohibition Partners LIVE features a packed programme of discussion and debate featuring some of the global cannabis industry’s most informed leaders and opinion-makers.
Prohibition Partners Live’s opening day started with an address from CEO and co-founder Stephen Murphy in which he welcomed all sponsors, partners, attendees and panellists.
He said: “At our last event in November we had over 10,000 meetings take place - that is a sign of the level of business and partnerships that come from these conferences.
“We thank you for joining us. We hope you have a fantastic three days; that you get everything you want and you network to your heart’s content, in relation to succeeding and sourcing the contacts, network and knowledge you are looking for.”
With Tuesday’s focus on Science, Research and Technology first up on the Cannabis Europa platform was the session; Building a Hempire: Hemp & the Potential Impact on Global Markets.
Moderator Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, Senior Cannabis Editor at The Cannigma, introduced panelists Lorenza Romanese, Managing Director European Industrial Hemp Association and Jamie Bartley, CEO of Unyte Hemp.
Ms Romanese said: “The real impact (of the hemp revolution) will be with fibres and we need to invest more to deliver green jobs. This side of the hemp industry has the ability to deliver ten times more value than the CBD industry.”
Mr Bartley said: “Hemp’s ability to remediate contaminated land; its beneficial environmental impact and the need to achieve Net-Zero 2050 and decarbonise, mean hemp’s time is coming around again.”
Second up on the Cannabis Europa stage was a well-informed panel discussing the issues surrounding medical cannabis prescribing in the UK entitled: Is There a Doctor in the House? Patient Access to Medical Cannabis.
This was hosted by Richard Hurley, Features and Debates Editor at The British Medical Journal.
Professor Mike Barnes, Chair of the Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society, said: “November 2018 was potentially an excellent day with the law change, but in reality only three NHS prescriptions have been written for children. There’s no reason why NHS clinicians cannot prescribe.”
Dr Rebecca Moore, a Consultant Psychiatrist, also at The Medical Cannabis Clinics, said: “A lot of people in the medical profession, want to learn more, and are now recognising this is something that can really help people.”
Bradley Moore, CEO & Director Global Cannabis Applications Corp, said: “In the last quarter we had 329,000 registered Canadian patients…but the vast majority of people are still using off-the-books, illegal cannabis.”
Next up on Cannabis Europa was the session entitled: New and Minor Cannabinoids: What Are They and How Can They be Used to Treat Patients?
It was moderated by Anne Schlag, Head of Research at Drug Science. Professor Roger Pertwee, Emeritus Professor at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, said: “Studies in Brazil, with cannabidiol, on people who were anxious with public speaking, showed it reduced that anxiety.”
Dr Peter Blecher, Medical Director, WeedMD & Starseed Medicinal: “Cannabis medicine from a medical perspective is a patient-led initiative we got dragged along this route by them…and this has allowed us to see the help they have received.”
Lex Wolfe, a Working Group Member at the Patient-Led Engagement for Access, said: “From my conversations cannabis has helped reduce, if not completely stop them (patients) from using opiates.”
Cannabis Americana began at 4pm and got underway by examining how cannabis can help individuals support their own mental and physical health.
Entitled: Where Wellness and Cannabis Collide: A Look to the Future Across Yoga, Meditation, Beauty and Beyond it featured Jessamyn Stanley, Dr Amanda Reiman and was hosted by Elana Goldberg, CEO of The Cannigma.
Jessamyn Stanley, Co-Founder of We Go High, said: “All cannabis use is medicinal… all other perceptions are related back to prohibition…(but) if we had more research into dosage that would certainly help.
“Yoga and cannabis have been in a relationship stretching back thousands of years.”
Dr Amanda Reiman, VP of Community Development, Flow Cannabis Company: “We have to reframe the conversation around seeking wellness and fun…and cannabis can be a tool for that.”
The next session New and Minor Cannabinoids: What Does the Future Hold? was hosted by Mona Zhang, a Senior Reporter at Politico, and featured Dr Peter Grinspoon, MD, Instructor, Harvard Medical School, said: “For many of the minor cannabinoids, as with CBD, enthusiasm is soaring above the science and the questions is what is the potential? and what is actually a medical benefit?”
Ms Zhang quizzed the panel on the emergence of Delta-8 THC with Jonathan Miller, General Counsel of the US Hemp Round table, saying: “The FDA’s approach to CBD has created uncertainty, so many famers and companies are looking to D8 as a salvation - but this is now impairing our ability to get the FDA to get its act together on CBD.”
Ari Mackler, cannabis scientist and businessman, said: “Trying to understand how different cannabinoids behave with different cells in different parts of the body is where some of the science is taking us.”
Blockchain in Cannabis, looked at how innovative businesses are using Crypto and Blockchain technologies to add not only value, but to increase accountability to their supply chain and was hosted by Oisin Lunny, a TedX Speaker & SXSW Board Advisor.
Robert Galarza, Chief Executive Officer, TruTrace Technologies, said: “It has become apparent during Covid that we are a global world…block chain and smart digital solutions can help open up this global commercial world.”
Chris Naprawa, President, Taal Distributed Information Technologies, said: “Blockchain can help develop the creation of a global database demonstrating the efficacy of cannabis medicines and can help make this mainstream.”
At 6.45pm our featured presentation From Pain to Strain: Using Machine Learning for Efficacy - Masterclass was delivered by Bradley Moore CEO & Director of Global Cannabis Applications Corp.
With over 20 years of proven business leadership from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, Brad entered the medical cannabis industry in 2017, with a vision of using advanced technologies to create a better outcome for medical cannabis patients.
In the Medical Cannabis ecosystem, one of the primary pain points for cultivators and consumers alike is compliance, authentication, tracking, and certification of products to ensure quality, consistency, and, most importantly, efficacy.
In his MasterClass, Brad discussed how GCAC’s Citizen Green Efixii harnesses the first-of-its-kind end-to-end solution based on multiple interlocking technologies such as mobile applications, artificial intelligence, smart databases and an Ethereum blockchain.
This big data processed by the CitizenGreen ‘Pain to Strain’ machine learning algorithm can generate ‘averaged’ efficacy ratings on a per product-treatment basis. GCAC’s CitizenGreen Efixii technology provides the medical cannabis data that cultivators need in order to provide the best products. Regulators need to write meaningful regulations and doctors need to write correct prescriptions, and patients need to confidently use products.
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