Patient Insights and Reproductive Health (WWC Conference 2020)

I am currently Director of Global Patient Advocacy at Canopy Growth. Prior to this, I was CEO of the National Institute for Cannabis Health and Education (NICHE), a not-for-profit established to support the development of public policy and research, and Executive Director of Hope for Health Canada, the first registered charity focused on medical cannabis access in Canada. I was also a post doctoral fellow at the BC Centre on Substance Use as part of the qualitative & community based research team, and the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. My research program looked at harm reduction and instrumental use among people who use drugs and community based cannabis substitution programs in Vancouver. I was a MITACS Elevate fellow and a PhD graduate in Sociology / Addiction Studies at the University of Toronto. My interests include community health, cannabis health and policy, drug policy, social justice and drug policy reform, social movements, and socio-legal studies. For my dissertation, I focused on the the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR). I created the first Canadian focused cannabis policy course, taught at UofT ('14-16), and am committed to mentoring youth interested in drug policy. I also was a Subject Matter Expert for the Ontario Cannabis Store, and for the retail training program, CanSell.

Ashleigh Brown is the founder and CEO of SheCann Cannabis, the country’s largest and most engaged digital network of medical cannabis patients. As a patient herself, she works alongside stakeholders, industry members and regulators to provide a patient-centric view of the medical cannabis system. Ashleigh has been named Canada’s top cannabis educator twice since the groups’ inception in 2017. SheCann was recently voted Canada’s favourite advocacy group: an honour that Ashleigh says belongs to the over 9,000 members and followers that make it such an important resource for patients.

Dr. Shelley Turner, MD CCFPFounder & Chief Medical Officer, Ekosi HealthAssistant Professor, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Lakehead University, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Manitoba

Saran James- Vaughan is a Holistic Nutritionist and Women’s Wellness Coach. She integrates a variety of modalities including Holistic Nutrition, Herbal Medicine and strategies for personal alchemy. Saran teaches individuals how to tap into their own innate ability to heal through debilitating illness to wellness.

Dr. Lakisha Jenkins is a Traditional Naturopath, registered master herbalist and teacher of endogenous cannabinoid system education. Dr. Jenkins became a Founding Board Member and first elected President of the California Cannabis Industry Association in 2012 and served on the National Cannabis Industry Association Board (2013-2015) as the California State Representative and the founding Chair of their Minority Business Council.