Agenda

Friday:

  • 7:00 am  Registration opens 
  • 9:00 am-9:30 am Keynote by Dr. John Schwarz
  • 9:30 am-10:00 am A History of Medical Cannabis Research and the Endocannabinoid System featuring Dr.Sunil Aggarwal and Dr.Mark Ware. Overview of the history of medical cannabis research and the endocannabinoid system.
  • 10:00 am-10:30 am Cannabis, The Exit Drug featuring Philippe Lucas and Amanda Reiman
  • 10:30 am-11:00 am Is Medical Marijuana a Thing of the Past? Featuring Wendy Chapkis
  • 11:00 am-11:30 am An Integral Frame for MMJ Organizations featuring Regina Nelson
  • 11:30 am -1:00 pm The Science of Medical Cannabis featuring Dr. Donald Abrams, IACM, Dr. Mark Ware, The Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CCIC), Dr. Jahan Marcu, Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, ASA Board member, Dr. Michelle Sexton, ASA Board, and Mary Lynn Mathre, Patients Out of Time. Panelists will comment on presentations of the day, highlight scientific findings, and comment on future research directions in medical cannabis and cannabinoid medicine.
  • 1:00 pm-2:00 pm Lunch
  • 2:00 pm-6:00 pm Poster Exhibitions Poster Exhibitions featuring work by Dr.Jahn Marcu, Dr.Sunil Aggarwal, Dr. Michelle Sexton and Dr. Robert Melamede
  • 2:00 pm-6:00 pm Continuing Medical Education Course (CME)
  • 2:00 pm-6:00 pm Continuing Legal Education Course (CLE)
  • 3:30 pm-5:30 pm ASA members meeting
  • 6:30 pm -8:30 pm ASA member reception

Saturday:

  • 8:00 am Registration Opens
  • 9:00 am-9:30 am Welcome from Steph Sherer, Founder and Executive Director of ASA
  • 9:30 am-10:45 am Medical Cannabis Policy in the US: A History of Resistance. Featuring Valerie Corral, Women’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, Stephen DeAngelo Harborside, Joseph Casias, Joseph Casias vs Walmart, Don Duncan, ASA and Mary Lynn Mathre, Patients Out of Time. Behind every progress in the medical cannabis movement is a tale of courage and persistence. This panel will explore current medical cannabis policy in the US as well as an historical overview of patient advocacy that has made this progress possible.
  • 10:45 am-11:00 am Break
  • 11:00 am-12:15pm International Medical Cannabis Policy featuring Philippe Lucas, Boaz Wachtel, Tjalling Erkelens and George Pappas. Several countries around the globe are developing medical cannabis programs for their citizens. This panel will provide an overview of current international medical cannabis policy, with detailed reports on Canada, Israel and the Netherlands.
  • 12:15 pm-1:30 pm Lunch
  • 1:30 pm-4:15 pm Stakeholder Meetings
  • 2:45 pm-3:00 pm Break
    Stake holder groups:
  • Patient advocacy featuring Steph Sherer, ASA, Darrell Rogers, Alliance for Natural Health USA, and Bill McColl, Aids United. This stakeholder meeting is for those in the medical cannabis movement that self-identify as a patient or patient advocate. This meeting will include presentations from patient and consumer advocacy organizations about the role of patient advocacy in passing federal laws and a discussion about the role of patient advocates in the medical cannabis movement.
  • Drug Policy Reform featuring Neil Franklin, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Aaron Houston, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and Bill Piper, Drug Policy Alliance. This stakeholder meeting is for those that self-identify as drug policy reformers and see medical cannabis as a part of broader drug policy reform. In this meeting leaders in the drug policy reform movement will be leading a discussion about the role of drug policy reformers in the medical cannabis movement and about their role moving forward.
  • Medical Professionals featuring Mary Lynn Mathre, Patients Out of Time and Dr.David Bearman, American Alliance for Medical Cannabis. This stakeholder meeting is for medical professionals that are a part of the medical cannabis movement. This discussion will be centered on the issues medical professional face in the realm of medical cannabis as well as an overview of current medical cannabis projects lead by medical professionals.
  • Veterans featuring featuring Michael Krawitz, Veterans for Medical Marijuana. This will be a discussion on the special needs for subcategories of medical cannabis patients that are also veterans. Part of this meeting will be focused on developing strategies on expanding protections for veterans.
  • Labor Labor featuring Dan Rush, UFCW. This stakeholder meeting is for UFCW members and staff. This will be a discussion on labors role in the medical cannabis industry and developing strategies regarding working within the medical cannabis industry.
  • Industry featuring Michael McGuffin, American Herbal Products Association, Dr. Jahan Marcu, Green Standard Diagnostics, Inc. This stakeholder meeting will be hosted by the American Herbal Products Association’s (AHPA) Cannabis Committee.  The agenda for the committee meeting will include a discussion of the committee’s recommendations to regulators on industry standards, an overview of AHPA and projects moving forward.
  • Legal professionals Legal professionals featuring Joe Elford, ASA and Alex Kreit, professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. This stakeholder meeting is for legal professionals and others with an interest in the legal issues surrounding medical cannabis. This meeting will include updates on recent federal and state cases. Strategies for defending criminal cases and achieving reform through impact litigation will also be discussed.
  • 4:15 pm-4:30 pm Break 
  • 4:30 pm- 6:00 pm: Exciting Developments in Medical Cannabis Movement featuring Dr. Michelle Sexton, ASA Board Member, Jill Limerourex ASA’s Patients First Program Director, Michael McGuffin Herbal Products Association, Dan Rush UFCW, Bianca Barnhill ASA Board Member, Joe Elford, ASA, and Tanya Blasbalg, Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CCIC). 18 states and the District of Columbia have medical cannabis laws, and more states are continuing to follow in this direction. As move forward as movement, ASA would like to highlight some new special projects that will impact our work on the federal and state level. Discussion will include an overview of the Patients First Program, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia: Cannabis Monograph, The Cannabis Committee at the American Herbal Products Association, the I Choose Cannabis campaign, the creation of the Medical Cannabis and Hemp Division of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the decision of the recent ASA vs DEA rescheduling hearing, and the Continuing Medical Education (CME) program by the CCIC.
  • 7:00 pm-8:00 pm VIP Reception
  • 8:00 pm-10:00 pm Awards Dinner

Sunday:

  • 10:00 am-12:00 am Stakeholder Presentations. This panel will cover the various medical cannabis stakeholders prospective including Patients, Veterans, Medical Professionals, Drug Policy Reform, Labor, Legal and Industry.
  • 12:00 pm-1:15 pm Lunch in Regional Break outs
  • 1:15 pm- 2:30 pm Training/Workshops 
  • Citizen Lobbying featuring Steph Sherer, ASA. Learn the ticks of the trade of having a successful lobby meeting. Everyone who will be lobbying on Monday needs to come to this workshop, where you will have the chance to practice for your meetings with legislators on Monday.
  • Training: Strategic Messaging and Spokesperson Training featuring Kris Hermes of ASA. Workshop participants will be trained on becoming spokespeople on the issue of medical marijuana. If we expect to be heard and understood by mainstream media, we need to speak and communicate our message in such a way that it stands out among today’s tidal wave of information. Participants will learn the elements of a successful interview, how to effectively use sound bites, and how to tie these messages to our strategies and goals.
  • Workshop: Bringing Medical Cannabis Politics into the Mainstream featuring Jim Greig, Voter Power Foundation, Robert Jacob, Sebastopol Vice Mayor, and Lanny Swerdlow (invited). This panel will discuss how to integrate mainstream politics into medical cannabis policy as well as offer an overview of the basic infrastructures in politics, which includes PACs, democratic clubs, running for office, and getting medical cannabis champions elected.
  • 2:30 pm – 2:45 pm Break
  • 2:45: 4:00 Training/Workshops
  • Training: Running an effective meeting; Facilitation and Consensus Building featuring Steph Sherer, ASA. One of the most overlooked skills in organizing is running effective meetings which allow individuals voices to be heard but that also accomplish objectives. This training will go over tried and true skills on successfully facilitating meetings, either in person or via conference calls, as well as running a consensus process during the meeting.
  • Workshop: Creating Campaigns for Initiatives and State Legislation featuring Matt Allen, Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, Don Duncan, ASA, Melissa Fults, Arkansans for Safe Access and Kari Boiter. Election Day and the day the legislature votes on a bill is the last day of what can take years to build. Hear from experienced advocates from around the country on building up campaigns to pass state legislation and initiatives.
  • Workshop: Implementation and Regulations featuring Limerourex, ASA, Tim Smale, Remedy Compassion Center, Mike Liszewski, ASA, Ken Wolski, Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey, and Rachel Kurtz. Passing a voter initiatives or a piece of legislation is the first step in an intensive process called implementation and often includes developing regulations. Hear from experienced advocates about strategies for success in the implementation process.
  • Workshop: Fundraising for Grassroots featuring Hunter Holliman of ASA, Tony Bowles of SF ASA, and members of San Diego ASA. We all know that building and sustaining your organization or campaign take money. What are the best strategies when it comes to grassroots fundraising? Learn the basics of effective fundraising from experienced activists that you can start implementing immediately in your own community.
  • 4:00-4:15 Break
  • 4:15-5:30 Training/Workshops
  • Training: Citizen Lobbying featuring Caren Woodson, SF ASA. Learn the ticks of the trade of having a successful lobby meeting. Everyone who will be lobbying on Monday needs to come to this workshop, where you will have the chance to practice for your meetings with legislators on Monday.
  • Gathering Data in your Advocacy featuring Amanda Reiman, Drug Policy Alliance. Gathering data is not only important for the larger medical marijuana advocacy movement, it is an essential part of being a responsible part of the medical marijuana industry. Cultivators, dispensary owners, and others who work in the field should know how to evaluate their programs and improve their service to patients. This workshop will introduce participants to the basics of survey design and data collection, including how to ask the right questions, collecting data and making the most of your results. Participants will have an opportunity to design their own survey around a question they want to answer in their medical cannabis business.
  • Utilizing Social Media in your Advocacy eaturing Jonathan Bair, Talana Lattimer, ASA and special guest. Social Advocacy is the leading edge of online advocacy. New social media tools not only allow advocacy campaigns and activists to educate, engage and mobilize the public to participate in campaigns, but they also can be used to target policy makers, directly. This session will provide you with an extensive overview of the strategies and tactics that can turn Twitter, Facebook and other social media into tools for changing policy.
  • 5:45-6:30 Closing Panel

Monday:

  • 7:00 am -8:30 am Distribute lobbying materials and depart the Mayflower
  • 9:30 am Press Conference
  • 10:30 am-1:00 pm – Free time on Capitol Hill (if you do not have meetings scheduled with your elected though ASA you can use this time to drop by your reps offices and see if you can meet with someone in the afternoon)
  • 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Congressional Visits (times will be given when you check in)

Read about the conference speakers.