Focused on Latin America, Rio hosts International Medicinal Cannabis Seminar
Rio de Janeiro will host the second edition of the International Medicinal Cannabis Seminar - A Look into the Future next weekend (June 29th and 30th). The event aims to discuss public health, access, research, and regulation of the plant. There will be three simultaneous rooms with lectures, panels, and workshops. Participants will discuss clinical, scientific, legal, and even religious experiences.
The event is supported by Fiocruz, one of Brazil's main public health institutions, and is promoted by Apepi (Association for Support of Marijuana Research and Patients). The organization has been noted for its important actions in the field. The president of the organization, Margarete Brito, who partners with Sechat, explains that in this edition, the event focused on the advancements happening in the Latin American continent.
"This year, we focused a lot on Latin America because we believe this union is very important. There is a lot happening. From Colombia, we are bringing André Lopez, former Minister of Justice, who played a crucial role in all the regulations there. We also have people coming from Panama, Chile - which is quite advanced on the subject. And also from the province of Jujuy (in Argentina)."
In Jujuy, the government obtained authorization to import marijuana seeds and start a pilot project on a public farm. Among the panelists will be Gustavo Alfredo, Minister of Health of the province.
From Chile, Ricardo Mercado from Knop company will talk about new products, Ximena Steinberg will lead a panel on Science and Policy, and Sergio Sanchez will discuss Geopolitics and the medicinal cannabis industry. From Panama, Sandra Carrillo will lead a debate on the plant's ancestry.
Among the most relevant Brazilian names are Eduardo Faveret, one of the main doctors who embraced the cannabis cause in Brazil, Denise Pires de Carvalho, future rector of UFRJ, and lawyer Emilio Figueiredo from Drug Reform, who will discuss the judicialization of imports and habeas corpus.
Sechat Portal participates in the seminar
On Saturday, from 1 PM to 3 PM, panel "The role of the press in the medicinal Cannabis agenda" will be held in room 1. Journalist Andre Basbaum from Sechat portal will be on the panel along with Denis Burgierman from Nexo Jornal and William Helal from O Globo. The meeting will be moderated by Monique Oliveira from USP. Additionally, the website will be providing live coverage of the event for the two days.
"The press has been one of the most important tools for us to advance. Otherwise, we do all this and no one knows anything!", emphasizes Margarete Brito.
This year, the event will take place at the European Institute of Design (IED). A symbolic place of transformations, since 1922 where the former Hotel and Bathhouse of Urca operated until 1933, then the Urca Casino until 1946. Between 1954 and 1980, it hosted TV Tupi, the first Brazilian television station.