Panel discussion teaches students about marijuana movement and industry
Student Advocates for Medical and Responsible Cannabis presented a panel featuring four cannabis industry professionals
Four panelists spoke about how the cannabis industry operates, how to get started in the field and what the future looks like for marijuana policy in the Bovee University Center Auditorium yesterday.
The event was hosted by student organization Student Advocates for Medical and Responsible Cannabis
The panel featured Brandon McQueen, a Mount Pleasant local, activist, and industry entrepreneur, Robin Schneider, a medical marijuana patient rights activist and Lansing lobbyist, Kevin Pybus, a former Colorado grower, and Mike Lumetta, a marijuana activist that assists patients in getting medical marijuana certification.
McQueen discussed how he got his start in the industry, stating that he's been interested in marijuana policy since he was a teen.
"It was amazing to watch how the marijuana movement turned into a marijuana industry. It changed my life," he said.
McQueen was the first to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Mount Pleasant. For young people looking to get into the business, McQueen said that the industry needs real professionals.
"The best advice I can give is to pay as much attention to politics as you can," he said. "When I first got my start, I sat in a coffee shop for five hours a day, just studying and absorbing everything I could."
Schneider said she focuses a lot of her work on helping families with sick children gain safe access to medical marijuana.
"This is not about getting high," Schneider said. " This is about creating a better society for our next generations."
Schneider said that increasing and securing rights to medical cannabis for patients who need it will improve our society greatly. However, she takes offense when people say that medical marijuana was just a "stepping stone" to legalization.
"We don't use sick people to get legalization, that's wrong," Schneider said.
She also talked about how she got her start in the industry, and her best advice for students who want to get involved.
"Go to city council meetings and voice your opinion," Schneider said.
Lissette Rosado, publicity chair for SAMRC and Perry senior, said the panel discussion was really important for the student body.
"When there's a stigma attached to marijuana, it's really important to hear from the industry professionals and to learn their stories," Rosado said. "Marijuana is really important to learn about, because whether or not people like it, it's happening. Be informed."
