Cannabis & Psychedelics Conference & Expo
Presented by The FIU Office of Pre-Health & the FIU Psychedelic Club
July 9-10, 2022
Florida International University
Cannadelic Miami at Florida International University is the first cannabis and psychedelics conference focused on the future – cutting edge research & the next generation of academics and professionals. Cannadelic FIU is bridging the gap between science and it’s applications in the real world.
Cannadelic give you the opportunity to connect with top cannabis & psychedelic researchers, innovators and professionals.
Anthropologist, Ethnomycologist, and Award-Winning Educator
Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D., is an anthropologist, ethnomycologist, and award-winning educator. He is Founding Professor of Anthropology in the department of Global & Sociocultural Studies at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, where he teaches an interdisciplinary course on “Psychedelics and Culture.”
Dr. Brown is coauthor of The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity, 2016; “Entheogens in Christian Art: Wasson, Allegro and the Psychedelic Gospels,” Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2019; “Mystical Experience and Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy: Insights from Guided Imagery Therapy with Cancer Patients," Psychedelics Today, 2020; “Mystical Experience with Cancer Patients,” Global Journal of Medical Research, 2021; and “Sacred Plants and the Gnostic Church,” Journal of Ancient History, 2014.
He is author of “Book Review of The Immortality Key,” Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 2021; and of “Ayahuasca, Depression and Me,” Chacruna Institute, 2019. His mission is to research, write and teach about psychedelics.
President, FIU Psychedelic Club
Christina Cabrera-Elizondo is a senior pre-medical student at the Florida International University Honors College. She is currently pursuing a double major in Psychology and Natural and Applied Sciences. In the pursuit of further academic studies, Christina is studying to receive undergraduate certificates in Heath Humanities and Women’s and Gender Studies. Alongside founding the FIU Psychedelic Club, she is proud to serve as the organization’s president since its founding in 2020. Outside of academics, she currently holds a position as a student research assistant at FIU’s Clinical Research Lab for Tobacco Smoking. After graduation, Christina aims to apply to medical school and has career interests in psychiatry, pediatrics and women’s health.
Former Harvard Kennedy School Drug Policy Fellow, Convicted in the largest LSD manufacturing case in history
William Leonard Pickard is one of two people convicted in the largest lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) manufacturing case in history. In 2000, while moving their LSD laboratory across Kansas, Pickard and Clyde Apperson were pulled over while driving a Ryder rental truck and a follow car. The laboratory had been stored near a renovated Atlas-E missile silo near Wamego, Kansas. Gordon Todd Skinner, one of the men intimately involved in the case but not charged due to his cooperation, owned the property where the laboratory equipment was stored.
On July 27, 2020, Pickard was granted compassionate release from federal prison 20 years into his sentence.
Prior to his arrest, Pickard was deputy director of the Drug Policy Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles.
In 2015 Pickard published The Rose of Paracelsus: On Secrets & Sacraments, a 656-page autobiography that blends fiction and nonfiction. The book centers around six chemists in an international drug organization.[18] One of the Six tells Pickard, the book's narrator, that the making of psychedelics is not just following a recipe or formula but requires "the requisite spirit ... the purest intent, a flawless diamond morality". He says it's the same spirit described in Thomas De Quincey and Jorge Luis Borges's short stories about Paracelsus, the 16th-century physician and alchemist of Basel who resurrected a rose from its ashes: "there could be no creation for lack of faith and the trust of gold".
Writing while incarcerated, Pickard wrote the entire book with pencil and paper. In an interview with Seth Ferranti, Pickard recounted: "The Rose was handwritten in two years, without notes and based on recollection, but seemed too trivial to honor the reader. I destroyed the work in minutes, then began again. It took another three years to compose, then a year to edit the 656 pages."
Founder, ICANNC & Publisher, THC Magazine
Mary Jane Oatman is an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe and descendant of the Delaware Tribe and proud mother of three beautiful people. She is the founder of the Indigenous CANNabis Coalition (ICANNC) and publisher of THC Magazine and enjoys being able to grow her passion both in her communities as well as across the nation as a traveling culture and events photographer. Mary Jane has found her true vibe capturing special moments with plants and people.
Mary Jane has been dedicated to reclaiming Indigenous cultures and restoring pre colonial economies in hemp and cannabis. She has worked for her tribe and other communities to advocate to state and federal agencies to protect tribal sovereignty and to ensure more effective government to government relationships are steered by building bridges between diverse stakeholders. In 2009, Oatman was the youngest member appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education, while also serving as the first Director of Indian Education for the state of Idaho.
Mary Jane is on the founding board for the JUSTUS Foundation and currently serves as the president of the Idaho ACLU and on the board of directors for the Association of Cannabis Health Equity and Medicine (ACHEM). She has also served on the Minority Cannabis Business Association board. She is a certified fitness instructor and loves fishing, gathering and chopping wood for the sweat lodge when she is not searching for stories that heal.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Albert Garcia-Romeu, Ph.D. is a member of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a Guest Researcher at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Neuroimaging Research Branch, where he studies the effects of psychedelic drugs in humans, with a focus on psilocybin as an aid in the treatment of addiction. He received his doctorate in 2012 from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, where he researched self-transcendence and meditation, and their role in mental health. His current research interests include clinical applications of psychedelics, mindfulness, and altered states of consciousness, and their underlying neurobiological and psychological mechanisms. As a faculty member of the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit (BPRU) he is involved in examining the effects of diverse drugs, and applying qualitative and mixed methods to understanding drug effects, risks, abuse liability, and therapeutic potential.
Cannabis Epidemiologist
Unlike Colorado and California, the State of Florida is a not as progressive when it comes to legalizing cannabis. Dr. Denise Vidot is ahead of the game when it comes to making a difference within the cannabis community. She is a public health professor at The University of Miami, Founder and President of CanaVee, and the eldest of 7 children, so being a leader is nothing new for her. Read more below on how she has scientifically proven the benefits of the flower.
Based on your studies, what have you found to be some core benefits of cannabis?
“I’m an epidemiologist that studies the mental and physical health impact of cannabis use on multiple diseases. I’m sure you have heard the hypothesis that cannabis makes you a lazy person with the “munchies”; the research my team is conducting is actually disproving that. For example, our studies comparing cannabis consumers and non-consumers (controlling for age, sex, and income) have shown that cannabis consumers have lower waist circumference, glucose, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels. I’ve also studied metabolic syndrome which is a cluster of different risk factors that put people at risk for cardiovascular disease. I’m seeing that those who use cannabis are having a lower prevalence of getting these diseases.”
Where do you think the stigma comes from?
“It really is about the delivery of a topic through media. If they say something is bad, the population runs with it until proven otherwise. The person who tells the story is who makes the rules. Even in science, information can be extracted; we learn what is taught. Think about this in the context of the endocannabinoid system. Despite being our body’s master regulator, it is not formally taught in medicine, nursing, nor public health. Any extra knowledge gained is totally up to the individual, which can contribute to stigma of cannabis is a drug, not a medicine. Education is important, but comprehension and implementation of the knowledge gained is key to reducing stigma.”
What is CanaVee and how is it helping those within your community?
“It’s a nonprofit organization that I birthed and gave life to. I created a space for evidence-based research to help patients outside of my role at The University of Miami. I may say certain things in my role as a scientist at the University, but outside of the academic setting I can share and help the communityinterpret and have access to literature that can change their circumstances. ”
Why is it important to you as a Latina woman to educate others on the benefits of cannabis?
“As a Puerto Rican with roots in Seychelles, it is important for me to help remind our community of source and nature because it is part of my DNA, but also because I have lived through personal experiences that demand I take action. I can think of 3 examples immediately, all that occurred in high school and still impact my passion for educating about cannabis:
First, in high school my boyfriend, Obel St. Vil, was murdered; since he sold cannabis, he was labeled a drug dealer. People dismissed the fact that a 17-year-old black male was murdered by a 25-year-old white male. We have to get rid of this stigma.
Second, in highschool, my father was diagnosed with cancer and scleroderma. Cannabis has helped him so much, but he was always nervous about buying and consuming which impacted his mental health. With the knowledge we have about the benefits of cannabis in cancer patients; nobody should feel that way. We have to get rid of this stigma.
Finally, here in South Florida we have a large population of older Hispanic women who have been raised on the idea that “devils’ lettuce” is going to get you deported or make you crazy in the head! I want my people to stop being brainwashed and to know that its ok cannabis can be good for us.”
And how is that going?
“I must admit that in the beginning it was really hard. I started advocating when Florida was only medicinal for special cases, so I was working against the stigma a lot in the beginning. During the pandemic, cannabis was seen as essential, and it really did help with our fight. In fact, we are seeing more people than ever interested in the plant and it’s hard to keep up with the inquiries.”
“What I’m most excited about now is that after being one of few medical professionals who openly support this movement, other clinicians are opening up to the possibilities of cannabis as a treatment or therapy. For a while, I was only helping those who came to me for my studies but now I’m educating more physicians. It’s almost irresponsible to only focus on the patients when they are saying things like their providers aren’t listening. I enjoy doing rounds at different hospitals and letting them know why cannabis is an alternative. I’m also focused on mentoring the next generation, my lab at the university is 90% student driven and 90% are from culture backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in their profession. These are future nurses, doctors, cultivators, and even lawyers learning about the medicinal components of Cannabis and that’s a good network of future changemakers.”
How has cannabis helped you personally?
“I’m a lupus patient and an athlete so I apply ointments to my muscles when I have a lot of pain. It’s the reason why I can still be a scientist and athlete. Being a lupus patient, I have learned that I need to be plant based in all aspects of my healing journey so I can get back to the way nature intended my body to be. Cannabis has opened my eyes to plants in general, but I’ve began to study other terpenes and plants also.”
What can we expect from you and CanaVee in the future?
“Regarding CanaVee, we will have more engagement within the community. Right now we are here for whoever finds us… but we will be more active in the world at the end of the year. Regarding the science, my team and I just launched the Herbal Heart Study. It represents the future of cannabis science since it’s the first long-term study on cannabinoids within 18–35-year-olds and the heart that is funded by the National Institute of Health. In this study, we are examining the relationship between cannabis and cardiovascular disease risk based on how cannabis is consumed (blunt, joint, or cart/vape). The most exciting part is that we are building a family cannabis consumers that will contribute to science through our team’s studies hopefully over their lifetime that way there can be no more questioning of data because we are now funded! There’s so much to look forward to.”
How can people support you?
“If people would like to be a part of transformative studies, we are looking for 400 participants in South Florida for our herbal heart study (www.herbalheartstudy.com). If not in South Florida, we would LOVE if you follow us on social media (@dr.vidot, @vidotcannabislab, @herbalheartstudy), but mainly continuing to pass our messages with evidence is the best way to help.”
Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Peter Hendricks, PhD, is Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). A clinical psychologist by training, Dr. Hendricks earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and received his PhD from the University of South Florida studying tobacco dependence and interventions for smoking cessation. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship on drug abuse treatment and services research at the University of California, San Francisco before joining UAB in 2010.
Dr. Hendricks’ research centers on the development of novel and potentially more effective treatments for substance use disorders and comorbid conditions, with specific areas of focus on tobacco, cocaine, cannabis, opiate, and polysubstance dependence in vulnerable populations, including individuals in the criminal justice system. He has been an active researcher in the psychedelic field since 2014, publishing population studies suggesting psychedelics may be effective in preventing and treating substance use, criminal recidivism, and psychological distress, among other outcomes, as well as a number of systemic reviews and theoretical pieces. He is currently Principal Investigator of a pilot trial of psilocybin-facilitated psychotherapy in the treatment cocaine dependence, psilocybin-facilitated psychotherapy in the treatment of fibromyalgia, and low doses or “microdoses” of psilocybin in the treatment of demoralization. Dr. Hendricks is also site PI of a NIDA-funded study of psilocybin for smoking cessation.
Psychedelic substances, which primarily act as serotonin 2A receptor agonists, are rapidly moving into the mainstream as clinical research programs and legalization/decriminalization measures accelerate in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. Psychedelic substances undergoing research in preclinical and clinical studies include psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, LSD, and mescaline/peyote. Patients and clinicians are increasingly optimistic about the potential efficacy of psychedelic drugs as an alternative or supplement to traditionally manufactured pharmaceuticals to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, demoralization, and other mental health conditions. Preliminary clinical studies indicate that, when administered responsibly, psychedelic agents may be safe and effective therapeutics with intriguing effects on the CNS, brain function, and inflammation.
MS, LPC, PhD student at The Ohio State University College of Social Work
Rafael Lancelotta, MS, LPC is a PhD student at The Ohio State University College of Social Work studying the importance of human relationship in therapeutic interventions. They have worked as a somatic-focused, trauma-informed therapist who has supported clients use of cannabis and ketamine to enhance the therapeutic process. They are passionate about increasing accessibility and responsible clinical applications of psychedelics/entheogens for under-represented populations. They received their Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Wyoming. Rafael aims to use their clinical skills combined with doctoral level research training to design, carry out, and integrate clinical research as part of diverse teams to create changes in the mental healthcare system that can serve to improve mental health outcomes for people from all walks of life.
25+ Exhibitors who touch the cannabis & psychedelic space.
From the future of cannabis & psychedelics legalization to the efficacy of ketamine treatment, experts discuss the latest topics.
Psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT, Ketamine... from treating depression to kicking addiction with psychedelics.
19 New vertical dispensary licenses are coming to Florida.
Protecting sacred plant medicine as the psychedelic industry grows.
Unlocking the secrets of the plant from treating cancer to the effects of vaping.
It's not what you know or who you know, it's who knows you! Happy networking.
Hemp farms, CBD, Delta-?, textiles, regulations, licensing, legalities and more.
WHO ATTENDS CANNADELIC?
Anyone interested in the science, culture or business of cannabis & psychedelics.
University Students & Faculty
Industry Professionals
MMJ Patients
Investors & Entrepreneurs
Doctors & Medical Staff
Lawyers & Lawmakers
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
Psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT and more have the therapeutic potential to heal the world. We are at the forefront of this potential a multi billion dollar industry.
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