CSU-Pueblo Prepares to Host Colorado’s First Cannabis Research Conference
The conference will run Friday, April 28 — Sunday, April 30, 2017
The spotlight will shine on Pueblo next spring, as CSU-Pueblo prepares to host Colorado’s first ever conference, dedicated to cannabis research.
The three-day conference will bring together authorities on research topics including scientific and medical uses, industrial and engineering, social and behavioral impacts, and cannabis ethics, regulation and public policy.
“The goal of the conference is to create a safe space to bring expert knowledge about cannabis into the academic foreground,” said conference co-chair Timothy McGettigan. “For decades, because of federal criminalization and Reefer Madness ignorance, cannabis expertise has been forced to lurk on the social margins. The goal of the conference is to shift cannabis expertise from the shadows into the light.”
Earlier this year, Colorado Governor Hickenlooper signed Senate Bill 191, which created an Institute of Cannabis Research (ICR as it’s commonly called), located at CSU-Pueblo. As part of the bill, the university is tasked with bringing cannabis studies into the academic mainstream.
“The Institute of Cannabis Research at CSU-Pueblo will create important research and educational opportunities that, at present, are not available at any other accredited university in the U.S.,” said McGettigan. “There are many myths that cannabis activists and antagonists cling to. Systematic, objective scientific research will help test and either confirm or refute those myths.”
The conference is open anyone with an interest — pro or con — in cannabis research and education. The event is free to CSU-Pueblo students and faculty, and $350 for the general public ($300 for early registration before Nov. 14). McGettigan says the formal guest list includes many “important figures from around the U.S. and all over the world,” but he didn’t elaborate on those who have confirmed their attendance.
