ASTM Conference on Overcoming Barriers to Entry in Cannabis Industries: Views from Around the World
Date: January 27, 2025 - January 28, 2025
Event Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Organized by: ASTM Committee D37 on Cannabis
About the Event
Speakers are invited to submit abstracts for the upcoming ASTM Conference on Overcoming Barriers to Entry in Cannabis Industries: Views from Around the World to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, on January 27, 2025 - January 28, 2025. The conference is sponsored by ASTM Committee D37 on Cannabis. The language of the conference will be English.
Objective and Scope
The global cannabis (and all its end uses, including industrial hemp) industries are diverse, represented by several stakeholder groups, many of whom have been historically marginalized and prevented from participating, even in their own market.
ASTM International Technical Committee D37 on Cannabis recognizes these inequities and wants to provide a forum to listen and learn from more diverse representatives of these global industries.
The goal of this two-day conference is to build a bridge between traditional knowledge, science, and commercialization of the many uses of the Cannabis sativa L. plant, its parts, and associated products so that underrepresented groups have an equal opportunity to succeed in the international cannabis marketplace.
Tentative Conference Schedule
Day 1
1. Listen to legacy, indigenous, women and other underrepresented groups that have been marginalized and disenfranchised from the international cannabis (and all its end uses, including industrial hemp) market.
2. Learn from those impacted by prohibition. Learn from these mistakes so we can avoid making them in the future.
3. Reflect upon the shared stories and challenges to better understand how to empower groups to overcome barriers to entry.
Day 2
1. Identifying specific barriers to entry impacting legacy, indigenous, women and other underrepresented groups from accessing the international cannabis (and all its end uses, including industrial hemp) market.
2. Embracing philosophies for overcoming barriers to entry.
3. Learning about actions that can be taken to overcome barriers to entry.
4. Uncovering tools that are available to assist with overcoming barriers to entry and ones that are needed.
Abstract Submission
Those interested in participating in this event should submit an abstract describing how their presentation will address one of the conference themes. Submitters are encouraged to cover subject matter which they are most familiar. Abstracts should be no longer than 200 words and should clearly describe the learning objectives of the presentation.
Abstracts must be submitted using the ASTM Submission Portal and received no later than March 31, 2024. Accepted participants will be notified no later than September 30, 2024. To ensure your abstract was received into the ASTM database, please email symposia@astm.org and let us know that you have submitted an abstract.
Can’t make it to South Africa but still want to share your connection with the Cannabis sativa L. plant?
We want to hear from as many affected stakeholders as possible and recognize that not everyone can make it to South Africa.
To make it possible to learn from more diverse stakeholder groups from around the world we are encouraging individuals to submit a short video explaining how the cannabis plant and it’s parts and products positively impact culture, religion, economics, and other activities associated with daily life.
The videos should be lighthearted and will be used to set the tone of our 2-day conference. Please upload videos to the ASTM Submission Portal no later than June 30, 2024. Submissions should be MP4 format, and less than a minute in length. Video submission in languages other than English, must provide an English transcript for the video. Videos longer than 1-minute will not be considered. Submitters of accepted videos will be notified prior to the event.
NOTE: All submitters (abstracts and videos) will be required to agree to the ASTM Conference Speaker Release Terms.
Technical Chair Contact Information
For more information reach out to the planning team technical contacts: Amy King amy.king@delta9mexico.com or Darwin Millard darwin@thespockofcannabis.com.
Sponsorship Opportunity
Sponsors are invited for the upcoming ASTM Conference Overcoming Barriers to Entry in Cannabis Industries,: Views from Around the World to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, on January 27-28, 2025.
This even is an excellent opportunity to highlight your company or organization's commitment not only to your local community but to the international marginalized communities and stakeholders with the goal of creating a fair and viable global marketplace.
What Your Sponsorship Will Facilitate:
- Ensuring a successful and conducive two-day conference
- Networking events
- Breakfast and Coffee/Tea breaks
- Travel support for speakers and stakeholders
- Conference reception
- Conference audio-visual equipment
- Conference Translation services (as needed)
For more information on how you can take advantage of this amazing opportunity to highlight your organization's commitment to facilitating a fair and viable global marketplace, please click here.