I am attending this conference as a way to educate myself as a mental health practitioner, looking to understand more of the science behind the uses of cannabis. The conference agenda is as follows:
Agenda – Sixth National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics
Thursday April 15, 2010
7 PM – Reception & Exhibits
Friday, April 16, 2010
7:30 – Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:00 – Al Byrne – Welcome/Opening Remarks – Donald Abrams, MD (UCSF), Jesse Stout (RIPAC) and Donna Policastro, RN (RISNA)
8:30 – Raphael Mechoulam, PhD – Cannabis:Opening New Vistas in Both Therapy and Chemical Biology
9:10 – John McPartland, DO – A Molecular View of the Synergistic Shotgun
9:35 – Robert Melamede PhD – Endogenous Cannabinoid System Review
10:00 Break
10:20 – Gregory L. Gerdeman, PhD – Cannabinoids and the Neurobiology of Reward, Habit Formation and Addiction
10:45 – Andrea Hohmann, PhD – Endocannabinoid System & Neuropathic Pain
11:10 – Heather Bradshaw, PhD – The Endogenous Cannabinoid System and Reproductive Pain
11:35 – Mark Ware, MD, MSc, MRCP – Safety of Medical Cannabis Use
12:00 Lunch: Steve DeAngelo – First Look: An Analytical Window into California’s Medical Cannabis Supply
1:30 – Ed Glick – Growing Cannabis for Medicine
1:50 – Lyle Craker, PhD – Chasing the Rainbow- Medical Cannabis and the Struggle to Break the NIDA Monopoly
2:10 – David Bearman, MD – American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine
2:30 Break
2:50 – Philippe Lucas – It Can’t Hurt to Ask: A Patient Survey of Canadian Medical Cannabis Users
3:10 – Jennifer Burbank – Oral Preparations
3:30 – Charles Alexandre, RN & Todd Handel, MD (RI) – Steve Jenison, MD & Bryan Krumm, RN, CNP (NM) – State Programs and Supplying Patients with Medicinal Cannabis
4:10 – Sunil Aggarwal, MD, PhD Candidate – Geographic Snapshots of Medical Cannabis Access and Delivery in Washington State
4:30 End of day
6:00-10:00 – Benefit Dinner- Dr. Weil Presentation – Silent and Live Auction – Reggae Band – Comedy
7:00 PM – Andrew Weil, MD – Live Video Lecture – Alternative Medicine
Saturday, April 17, 2010
7:30 Registration
8:00 Al Byrne – Welcome – Melanie Dreher, RN, PhD
8:20 – Raphael Mechoulam, PhD – Head Trauma, Osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s Disease – An Unexpected Trio
9:00 – Reinaldo Takahashi, PhD – Cannabinoids and Aversive Memories in Animals: Novel Perspectives in the Treatment of PTS(d)
9:30 – Denis Petro, MD – Cannabis in the Treatment of Eye Movement Disorders, Congenital and Pendular Nystagmus
10:00 Break
10:20 – Richard Musty, PhD – Cognitive and Psychomotor Effects of Cannabis
10:50 – Michael Krawitz and Al Byrne – Veterans and Pain, PTS(d) Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injuries
11:20 – Jose Crippa,MD, PhD – Cannabidiol for the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Past, Present and Future
12:00 Lunch: Amanda Reiman, PhD, MSW – The Patient as Informed Consumer: Moving Beyond Safe Access
1:30 – Jay Rostow (VA) & Rhonda O’Donnell (RI) – Cannabis for Muscle Spasms and MS
2:00 – Donald Abrams, MD – Cannabinoid:Opioid Interactions
2:30 – Jane Metrik, PhD – Variability in Marijuana’s Acute Effects: The Role of Expectancies, Pharmacology and Genetics
3:00 – Break
3:20 – Mary Lynn Mathre, RN – Harm Reduction and Cannabis
3:45 – Faculty in Attendance Q & A, Mathre-Moderator
4:30 End of Conference
Kmareka.com 
I went to Pilgrim High School from ’69 to ’73. I wonder how many of my old classmates will be expert consultants.
Seriously, we really need better meds and treatments for chronic pain. Acetaminophen wrecks your liver if you take too much, ANSAIDS make your stomach bleed, narcotics constipate and oversedate and people are really suffering with no relief.
Please pass along what you learn from this conference, Kiersten. It sounds like it will be interesting. Just wondering…are the Doobie Brothers performing? (I couldn’t resist inquiring.)
No Doobie Brothers, no guest appearances by Cheech and Chong (although I did learn that Rodney Dangerfield was apparently a big user and proponent of the kind) and despite all the jokes posted on Facebook, no goodie bags for participants.
Very interesting stuff though! It appears in California they are getting more advanced in terms of safety screening and cannabinoid quantifying so that the end product is more reliable and effective and can be better directed to specific ailments.
More later!