Don't Get Stuck in the Weeds: Medical and Recreational Cannabis Update

This 3-hour professional development seminar will examine the rapidly changing sociological, legal, and medical research surrounding cannabis. The recent changes in medical cannabis and recreational cannabis laws have left many professionals confused on what is now illegal. Even police officers have recently been embarrassed arresting “major drug dealers” with “hundreds of pounds of marijuana,” only to learn the seized dried plant material was legal under the “hemp law” as there is no way to differentiate the two in the field. As cannabis use increases with legalization, medical professionals are seeing sharp increases in cannabis-related hospitalizations as well as heavy users seeking addiction treatment services. Hands-on examples of required cannabis packaging, hemp flower bud, CBD, and synthetic cannabinoids will be available. Participants will learn how to recognize and document under the influence of cannabis.

The seminar will also discuss the next generation of cannabis drug testing such as fingerprint oils or exhaled breath.

Upon completion of this seminar, participants

will be able to:

1) Define the medical term Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome

2) Discuss the differences between medical and recreational cannabis laws

3) Describe the physical symptoms displayed by persons under the influence of cannabis

4) Relate medical dangers from unregulated CBD use

Speaker – Bruce Talbot

Bruce Talbot is a state and federally certified trainer in the area of substance use with 30 years of instructor experience. Bruce has twice been called as a source expert before Congressional committees considering substance use legislation and has been qualified as an expert witness before criminal courts in Illinois and Texas. A frequent national conference presenter, Bruce has addressed the American Medical Association’s National Congress on Adolescent Health, the Centers for Disease Control Summer Workshop, and the US Surgeon General National Committee on Smoking and Health. In addition to training, Bruce also writes the lead article for the Illinois State Police Forensic Laboratory Quarterly Drug Trends Report. Bruce is a retired police sergeant with over 23 years of law enforcement experience in the Chicago metropolitan area. Bruce received his bachelor’s degree in administration of justice from Southern Illinois University and was awarded a master of public administration degree from Roosevelt University, and holds a management certificate from Northwestern University.