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Marijuana Summit Draws Criticism

Paige Filler
/
CC BY-SA 2.0

This fall, Nevada residents will vote on whether or not to allow marijuana for recreational use, and Wednesday, the University of Nevada School of Medicine is hosting a Marijuana Summit. But as Reno Public Radio’s Noah Glick reports, the conference has drawn some criticism.

The summit, which is being billed as a marijuana education event, does not include speakers who support marijuana legalization and is being funded with a federal grant.

Joe Brezny is the spokesman for the Coalition To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol and he spoke with our media partner, KNPRin Las Vegas. He says this event gives opponents of the industry free reign to push their message.

“They’re leading the opposition against this and all of a sudden they’re doing a medical conference and using state money to do it.”

Kevin Sabet is the director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida College of Medicine and one of the presenters. He also spoke with KNPR and says it’s not about regulation.

“It’s about a massive industry like big tobacco selling things like pot gummy bears and lollipops and marketing to kids while their brains are developing.”

The event is tomorrow at Harrah’s in downtown Reno, with another scheduled Thursday in Las Vegas.

Note: This story was produced with information from this KNPR interview.

Noah Glick is a former content director and host at KUNR Public Radio.