Future of Regulation and Product Safety: Product safety and industry standards are a new trend in regulatory schemes for medical cannabis. This panel will discuss these trends including what is happening internationally and in the US.

Speaker Bios

Marina Faz-Huppert

Marina Faz-Huppert is a resident of the City of Chicago. She has devoted her professional career to public service and advocating on behalf of working familes.

Currently, Faz-Huppert is the legislative and political director for Local 881 United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. The UFCW represents more than 34,000 members throughout Illinois and Northwest Indiana. She coordinates Local 881's political resources to assist candidates who support working families.

Prior to that post, Faz-Huppert served for three years as an appropriations analyst for the Illinois Senate Democratic Staff. Before that, she worked as a budget analyst for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Faz-Huppert, 37, holds a masters degree in political management from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in economics from DePaul University.

Jill Lamoureux

Jill’s background is in toll road operations and municipal bond finance; she received an MBA from the University of Denver in 1999. Jill has been a leader in Colorado’s medical marijuana industry since 2008 when she and her husband began one of the state’s most respected multi-location dispensary operations.  She is a founding member of and served as the first woman Chairman of the National Cannabis Industry Association.  Jill has presented on medical marijuana business topics and has taught CLE courses on rules and regulations nationally and in Canada.  She was the only business owner to serve on both the Department of Revenue and Department of Health regulatory advisory workgroups.  Jill developed the Patients First Certification program for Americans for Safe Access and serves as its Program Director.  Recently, she served as a subject matter expert consulting to the BOTEC team advising Washington State on rule-making issues for recreational marijuana operations.

As a former dispensary and cultivation owner and operator, she brings first-hand experience to her compliance work and procedures writing.  Jill has provided regulatory consulting for all three medical marijuana trade associations in Colorado and holds contracts with both legal and consulting groups providing compliance, application management, and writing services.  Currently, Jill is working on applications and procedures for dispensaries, manufacturers, and cultivation facilities in Massachusetts with Vicente Sederberg, LLC and in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, the District of Columbia, and Canada with Denver Relief Consulting.

Philippe Lucas

Philippe Lucas MA is a Research Affiliate with the Center for Addictions Research of British Columbia and a founding Board member of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies Canada and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Additionally, in 1999 Philippe founded the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, one of Canada's longest running non-profit medical cannabis dispensaries. His research interests, projects and publications include the therapeutic use of cannabis, Canada's federal medical cannabis program, and the use of cannabis, ibogaine, and ayahuasca in the treatment of addiction. Currently, he is a Primary or Co-Investigator on a number of studies examining cannabis substitution theory, and Coordinator and Co-Investigator of an observational study of ayahuasca-assisted treatment for addiction and stress. Philippe has testified before the Canadian Senate and House of Commons on cannabis-related issues, advised the Israeli Ministry of Health on their medical cannabis program, given court expert testimony before the BC Supreme Court, and is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work on medical cannabis and drug policy reform.

Kristin Nevedal

Kristin Nevedal is a certified traditional Chinese medical herbalist, nutritionist, and massage therapist.  A longtime Humboldt County resident and homesteader, she has spent over 15 years specializing in organic no till farming techniques, non-toxic disease and pest management, agricultural compliance, and nursery operations.    As chair of the American Herbal Product Association (AHPA) Cannabis Committee’s Cultivation Working Group, Kristin assisted in the development of cannabis cultivation model regulations and best practices for agency consideration. The model regulations address issues from seed to sale (retailer, manufacturer, or wholesaler), destruction of plant matter due to contamination, overproduction or unusable portions (stalks and rootballs), and harvesting, drying and trimming protocols for handling and hygiene.

Kristin is also co-founder and board chair of the Emerald Growers Association whose mission is to promote the medicinal, environmental, social, and economic benefits of lawfully cultivated sun-grown medical cannabis from California’s Emerald Triangle region by advocating for public policies that foster a healthy, sustainable medical cannabis industry.  Kristin’s broad policy and advocacy experience also includes serving as a board member for the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform (CCPR), Californians to Regulate Medical Marijuana (CRMM), Americans for Safe Access’s Patients First Certification Program, and the 420 Archives.

Amanda Reiman

Amanda Reiman is the California policy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance. Based in San Francisco, Reiman leads DPA’s marijuana reform work in California. Reiman has conducted numerous studies on medical marijuana dispensaries, patients and the use of marijuana as a treatment for addiction. Reiman served as the first chairwoman of the Medical Cannabis Commission for the City of Berkeley and has consulted with various cities and states on the development of medical marijuana policy. Reiman is currently a lecturer in the School of Social Welfare at the University of California-Berkeley, where she teaches Drug and Alcohol Policy, Substance Abuse Treatment, and Sexuality and Social Work. Originally from Chicago, Reiman earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Illinois-Chicago and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the Jane Addams College of Social Work. Reiman moved to Oakland in 2002 to attend the University of California-Berkeley, where she earned her PhD in Social Welfare in 2006.