Well, I must tell you that I have been revived! I’ve just returned from the future, and I have a story to share. You see, I’ve experienced my first ACS-CANN symposium, conducted at the American Chemical Society’s National Meeting in Orlando. If you’ve read Terpenes and Testing Magazine over the past year, you’ve likely recognized that we are on a mission. Like Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, we’ve signed on to go where few have traversed, time-travelers venturing out to the periphery to testify to humanity what the future of cannabis holds. And those who organized the event, including Julia Bramante of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Ezra Pryor of Heidolph-North America, Kyle Boyar of Medicinal Genomics, and Amber Wise, Ph.D. of Medicine Creek Analytics, have offered us a wonderful glimpse into the future of the cannabis industry.
The well-attended seminars verified the resurrected and escalating acceptance of cannabis, and celebrated the research of several next-generation cannabis scientists and one pioneer. The pioneer was Mahmoud ElSohly, Ph.D., of Ole Miss cannabis fame. Using governmental funding, El Sohly has contributed volumes of literature to our cannabis community. Descendants of cannabis scientists like O’Shaugnessy, Mechoulam, and ElSohly were bestowed the ElSohly Award for Scientific Excellence. And so, Steven Goldman, M.S., Monica Vialpando, Ph.D., Michael Coffin, and Bryant Jones were handed a torch from ElSohly for advancing the foundations needed in constructing the colossus of cannabis research.
The whole world is on a mass migration, as millions of people look to cannabis to feel, heal, re-harmonize, and energize. If you put your ear to the ground, the movement back to cannabis thunders like a pilgrimage of old. And yet, there is so much that is not yet known. With the widespread embracement of cannabis as medicine, indigenous knowledge needs to be bolstered by scientific and medical validation, and fast. For cannabis sales were just over $10,000,000,000 in 2018, and aren’t expected to show any signs of regressing, with more states and more people coming back to cannabis each day. That kind of volume requires perpetual scientific inquiry, and that’s where organizations like CANN can really impact our future.
With increased membership numbers comes increasing political muscle, and CANN is demanding their share of sway in Washington. Cannabis regulations often emulate the scene at the biblical Tower of Babel, and it’s common for regulators to not have scientific backgrounds. That’s where consortiums like CANN can serve as liaisons between those in the cannabis industry and legislative bodies, helping to make sure they are all ‘speaking the same language.’ By demanding a seat at the table, CANN and others can help make sure people who know what they’re talking about are the ones making the rules. I joined. You should too.
