The International Cannabis Consulting Business Women’s Association (ICBWA) mission is to help women unleash their power and potential as business owners in the cannabis industry. I saw this firsthand when I was invited to attend the Medicinal Cannabis Experts & Wellness Conference held in LA. As a former pharmaceutical scientist, I’m passionate about the science of cannabis and medical uses, and though the conference doesn’t directly relate to my current work, it’s important, and there were several people involved in the conference I wanted to speak with.
During the half-day conference, we heard from two panels and several other speakers and learned about cannabis medicine from professionals who use it to treat patients. We also heard from other wellness professionals and a hemp lobbyist who gave an interesting update on the current situation since the hemp ban was added to the bill that reopened the government. The event was held at Quantum Wellness Spa, and we were invited to tour the spa and learned about treatments incorporating CBD.
A highlight of the conference for me was meeting nurse Mo Smyth, who started and runs Cannabis Public School (CPS) on Sundays. It’s a free online class sharing cannabis education with medical professionals and is open to all. As Mo always says, cannabis is complex with a wide variety of compounds, including cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids, so there is a ton to learn. We are just scratching the surface on how it all works, and we all need more education to better understand the research coming out and to dispel the myths.
Before the conference kicked off, Mo sat down with me for an interview for Pro Cannabis Media’s weekly news show, Cannabis Coast to Coast News. Our interview can be found at the end of the show if you’re interested in learning more about CPS and what Mo was planning to share at the conference.
One of the most interesting parts of the day was a video we watched, recorded by Josh Schneider, who is a hemp lobbyist. Josh had just spent several days in DC trying to figure out what to do with the mess left from the last-minute addition to the government funding bill. Definitely a topic on everyone’s minds right now, and he had direct insight to share with us.
The main takeaway was that the current plan is to try and incorporate low-dose THC beverages into the alcohol market and other nonintoxicating cannabinoids into the supplement market. I think this makes sense to anyone who understands that not all of these products make sense to be sold in dispensaries, and there is no difference between cannabis and hemp; it’s all political. But I don’t think we are at a place where most people get that.
The two panels covered a variety of topics, and there were doctors, nurses, and a pharmacist who spoke about working with patients and utilizing cannabis in treatments. Since most of our medical care is Western-type treatment, we are used to experiencing doctors who know nothing about cannabis, leaving us on our own to find information. Hearing directly from these experts about the plant and incorporating it into our typical Western medicine practices is much needed, and I am so appreciative to ICBWA for creating the space.
The intimate event was hosted by Sophia Felix, Dennise Mejia, and Suzie Ortega, who created a welcoming space for us to network and learn. Some of the members in attendance shared about their businesses, and it was inspiring to see how the organization has helped them. It was my first ICBWA event, and I was impressed by the thoughtfulness, the way the schedule was balanced, and the professionals who shared their time. Looking forward to the next one!
Dina has spent most of her career in pharmaceuticals and biotech. Most of that was an 11-year career at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where she led Compound Management teams. This role required achieving excellence in managing an inventory of compounds, implementing quality-controlled processes, and developing software in a highly regulated environment.
After 15 years in the biotech space, Dina decided to take her knowledge and expertise and apply it to the rapidly expanding cannabis industry to ensure dispensaries maintain the high level of quality required to facilitate their success in the industry. Over the past few years, she has helped numerous dispensaries transition to new software and increase the efficiency of their operations. In addition, Dina wrote a successful dispensary license application in Illinois. More recently, she has worked with dispensaries on various data projects including applying cannabis tax amounts in California based on the amount of cannabis a product contains.
Dina is incredibly passionate about cannabis and social equity believing it is critical to the cannabis industry and therefore it is something she prioritizes in business.
