The Union Hall of the Grand Hotel Union in Ljubljana will be the venue of the 4th Slovenian conference on cannabis on Friday, 4 October, and Saturday, 5 October 2019.
The conference “Demystifying cannabis – cannabis now”, organised by RN Institute in cooperation with its partner organizations, will feature a number of renowned experts from Slovenia and abroad.
The professional and general public will be able to hear about examples of cannabis being used for medical purposes, about the latest scientific findings in this field and about the legal status of cannabis in Slovenia and abroad.
The purpose of the conference is to gather experts in different fields related to cannabis in order to foster education, cooperation, innovation and to see how this industry might impact Slovenia, encourage innovation and create an economic advantage.
The conference will also feature two round-table discussions with the experts, intended for the general public. On the first evening, a formal dinner with the lecturers will be organised, along with the opportunity for networking.
Growing interest
Today, medical cannabis is legal in 15 European countries, among them Croatia, while North Macedonia has recently started to grow cannabis for medical purposes. In Slovenia, too, there is a growing interest in the use of cannabis for medical purposes, but the current legislation makes research and medical use difficult.
Recently, the WHO recommended that CBD be exempt from the list of controlled substances, and to recategorise cannabis and several of its key substances in the framework of the international drug-related treaties. This year, the European Parliament voted for a resolution which might accelerate the use of cannabis for medical purposes in the EU.
Although the resolution is not binding, it provides an incentive to the European member states to increase access to medical cannabis and give precedence to scientific research and clinical studies. The resolution “calls on the Member States to allow doctors to make free use of their professional judgement in prescribing regulatory-approved cannabis-based medicines to patients with relevant conditions to ensure that, where allowed, medicines which are effective in treating specific conditions are covered by health insurance schemes in the same way as other medicines; asks Member States to provide a safe and equal choice for patients between different types of cannabis-based medicine, while ensuring that patients are accompanied by specialised medical professionals during their treatment”.
In the USA, cannabis has been legalised for medical purposes in 28 federal states. The first one to legalise it more than 20 years ago was California. In general and on a global scale, the legalisation of cannabis has created a real green fever which shows no signs of slowing down.
By the end of 2025, says a report from Grand View Research, the global cannabis market is expected to reach a value of 146.4 billion dollars, while Arcview Market Research established that in 2018 the global cannabis industry was worth 12.2 billion dollars.
In Slovenia members of the RN Institute started to inform the general public about cannabis for medical purposes back in 2014. So far, they have organised eight international scientific conferences, hosting the most renowned experts in this field, and were the first to combine cannabis-related knowledge and experience gathered by experts and interested parties in different fields. The conferences have been organised in Ljubljana, Belgrade, Skopje and Zagreb.
Speakers and lectures
- David Neubauer, PhD, MD (University Medical Centre Ljubljana (UMCL), Paediatrics Clinic and the University of Ljubljana, Medical Faculty – Slovenia)
“Slovenian experience with the use of cannabis and domestic cannabis products in the treatment of persistent epilepsy, certain epileptic syndromes, and encephalopathies of the childhood period”; - Sue Sisley, MD, PhD (Chair of the Scottsdale Research Institute and Principal Investigator for the only FDA-approved randomized controlled trial in the world examining safety/efficacy of whole plant marijuana in combat veterans with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder, USA): “Research barriers in the science of cannabis”;
- Doc. Dr. Tanja Bagar (CEO and Chair of the Expert Council of the ICANNA, the International Institute for cannabinoids – Slovenia): ”Mitochondria and their interaction with cannabinoids”;
- Dorothy Bray, PhD, (pharmacist, researcher, clinical studies specialist, ImmunoClin Ltd. – United Kingdom): “Clinical studies with cannabis and cannabinoid”;
- Mag. Dušan Nolimal (ICANNA, RN Institute, medical doctor, public health specialist, researcher – Slovenia): “Cannabis, mental health and prohibition: a critical overview of the relation”;
- Dr. Roman Štukelj (researcher: RN Institute Ljubljana, University of Ljubljana – Faculty of Health Sciences, ICANNA – Slovenia): “Cannabis as an essential food and its versatility”;
- Dr. Tamara Lah Turnšek (National Institute of Biology – Slovenia): “Cannabis and cancer”;
- Prof. Lumír Ondřej HANUŠ (analytical chemist and leading authority in the field of cannabis research. In 1992, he and William Anthony Devane isolated and first described the structure of anandamide. Head of research: Lumir Lab, Asana Bio Group Ltd – the Czech Republic, Israel): “Are we treating with cannabis correctly?”;
- Dr. Paul Hornby (zoologist, biochemist, pathologist, researcher, chairman of the Hedron Analytical Inc. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada): “Exploiting the benefits of cannabis”;
- Jonathan Grunfeld, MD, PhD (ISR): neurologist, neuro-oncologist, Palliative Care, Asaf Harofeh Medical Center, Israel; “Medical use of cannabis – an overview of the current condition”;
- Ilya Reznik, MD (Board-certified specialist in Adult Forensic & Clinical NeuroPsychiatry at MaReNa Diagnostic and Consulting Center, Israel): “To be, or not to be, that is the question. Shared decision-making for hepatitis medicines”;
- Guillermo Velasco Diez, PhD (School of Biology, Complutense University in Madrid, Spain): “Towards the use of cannabinoids as anti-cancer agents”;
- Robert Melamede, PhD (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, USA)
The conference is organised by the RN Institute from Ljubljana, in co-operation with its partner institutions: ICANNA, International Institute of Cannabinoids, Ljubljana, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana – Medical Faculty, Centre for Development Neuroscience, Ljubljana, International Cannabis Business Conference (USA) and National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana.
Conference organisation
Organiser: RN Institute
Trubarjeva 66
1000 Ljubljana
Tel: +386 70 423 000
e-mail: info@researchnature.com
www.researchnature.com
Chairman of the Organising Committee: Prof. Dr. David Neubauer
Chairman of the Expert Committee: Dr. Roman Štukelj, RNI, UL Faculty of Health Sciences – Ljubljana
Members of the Expert Committee:
Prof. Dr. David Neubauer, UL MF – Ljubljana
Dr. Tanja Bagar, ICANNA – Ljubljana
Dr. Paul Hornby – Canada
Prof. Lumir Ondrej Hanuš – Israel
The organiser reserves the right to change the conference programme.
Each lecture will last 30 minutes, followed by a 15 min debate.
Each day will conclude with a 1.5 h discussion session.
Tickets
One Day:
Institutions: 100 €
Regular: 60 €
Students, pensioners, high school students, unemployed: 30 €
Two Day:
Institutions: 200 €
Regular: 100 €
Students, pensioners, high school students, unemployed: 60 €
Gala dinner 60 € (limited number of tickets available)
Ticket pre-sale:
www.eventim.si and Hiša vstopnic Eventim Si (Tivoli Ljubljana, Citypark Ljubljana, Kino Šiška Ljubljana, Križanke Ljubljana, Mestni trg Ljubljana, Europark Maribor, call centre: 090 55 77*) and partner ticket selling point: Petrol, Pošta Slovenije, Big Bang, (K)kiosk, Trafika 3DVA, OMV multi point, Palma Agency and Alpetour travelling agency, and other selling points in the Eventim Si system.
Address of the venue:
UNION HALL, GRAND HOTEL UNION: Miklošičeva 1, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Date:
Friday and Saturday, 4-5 October 2019.
Public Relations:
Bojan Rojko
Antonov Agency
Mobile: 040 612 111
Email: bojan.rojko@agencija-antonov.si
