Medical Cannabis Industry – Security, Compliance, and Legalization

Greater Kansas City Chapter

ASIS International

June 2022 Lunch and Learn

The criminalization of marijuana imposes insurmountable restrictions on possible research and innovations that could advance the use of marijuana for legitimate medical uses. While initially questioned, a large body of research now shows that marijuana can serve as a viable and credible source of medical innovations to treat chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, sleep apnea, and a variety of other medical conditions. Multiple studies have also shown that legalization of medical marijuana results in the reduced prescription of opioids and can be an effective means of treating opioid addiction. The most recent polling on the issue found that 91% of Americans support the legalization of marijuana for medical uses. By allowing patients to access innovative treatments that involve marijuana or products derived from marijuana we can help them live full and successful lives and provide more tools for our hard-working medical professionals.

As of December 2021, 18 states allow adult-use, 36 allow medical use, and 27 states have decriminalized some small amount of personal possession. At present, Kansas and Idaho are the only states that have adopted no reforms.

The Solution: States that do not have the political will or proper environment to fully legalize marijuana should adopt a medical marijuana market that allows industry and medical innovation to thrive with limited regulatory burdens.

Presenter Bio: Sheriff (Ret) Currie Myers, PhD, MBA

Sheriff (Ret) Currie Myers, PhD, MBA founder of Green Canopy Consulting will speak about the Medical Cannabis industry, including best practices from a security and compliance point of view and offer his observations about the industry and the future of medical cannabis in the United States. Dr. Myers is also the founder of Sheriff Myers & Associates, which is a criminal justice public policy consulting firm. He has been on faculty in the Criminology Department at Benedictine College for now 12 years and is a practitioner of Open Window Theory and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles. Prior to being the Sheriff of Johnson County, Kansas, Dr Myers was a Kansas State Trooper and a KBI Senior Special Agent, including a five year assignment at DEA-KC.