Thank you Niagara County Community College for hosting the very first SUNY Cannabis Conference! ‘From Seed to Sale’ was packed full of great educational content and insights from current adult use market licensees.
Not only are State Universities now holding cannabis events and conferences, but 4 community colleges in our Western NY region received $5 million in funding to support the creation or enhancement of short-term credential programs or course offerings that provide pathways to employment in the cannabis industry. NCCC will serve as lead campus with partners Erie Community College, Genesee Community College and Jamestown Community College. The funding supports programs that will create or enhance non-degree and degree-eligible courses and programs, stackable credentials, and/or microcredentials that quickly address local employer skill needs within the cannabis sector, a projected multi-billion dollar industry with tens of thousands jobs. Selected campuses must also partner with local employers in the cannabis industry and receive their input on curriculum development and we plan to be a part of this partnership when the time comes for JCC! We plan to provide internships and training programs for local area students interested in pursuing a career in the cannabis industry.
Here’s a quick break down of the ‘From Seed to Sale’ conference:
The keynote address was by Dr. Laszlo Mechtler, MD, the Medical Director of the DENT Neurologic Institute, Professor of Neurology and Oncology at SUNY Buffalo. His presentation on his medical findings of cannabis were astounding! While he admits most medical associations and other doctors are still apprehensive due to cannabis’ federal status of being illegal, he uses all of his own investments to fund medical cannabis research studies in NY because he has seen its benefits and the quality of life given back to his patients. This was all very inspiring to us because we look forward being able to provide people with an alternative medicine to their ailments that might allow them to decrease their pharmaceutical use and have a better quality of life.
- We also heard from Axel Bernabe, the Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Director at the Office of Cannabis Management. He provided a great run down of the current regulations and the license tier types as well as answering many questions from the crowd.
- The break away sessions were also very enlightening as they were comprised of two panels of current conditional licensees. The first was Processing/Manufacturing and the second was Cultivation. We got to hear about the experiences so far for those who were awarded the conditional licenses for both processing and cultivation in 2022. They talked about the good, the bad, and what we need to look out for as we enter the general licensing period.
We’re so grateful that NCCC put on this event and we look forward to more community-involved conferences in the future. The cannabis culture is only growing stronger and education is key throughout all of this. Thank you everyone for following along and showing so much support for our mission!