On Tuesday, NJ Cannabis Insider will host the state’s premier all-day, multi-track panel event focused on the imminent legalization of adult-use cannabis, the expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program and the exploding hemp/CBD industry at the New Jersey Conference and Expo Center in Edison.
NJ Cannabis Insider Live! The Road to Legalization presented by Curaleaf NJ, which starts at 10:30 a.m., also packs in serious networking opportunities, an exhibitors vendor, lunch and end-of-conference happy hour. Tickets are still on sale, click here for details.
Sponsored by Curaleaf NJ, Supreme Security Systems, Ansell, Grimm & Aaron, CTPharma, and HillviewMed, the conference is the fourth large-scale event NJ Cannabis Insider has produced since launching in 2018.
Keynote speakers: Devra Karlebach, CEO of Green Thumb Industries (GTI) NJ, Jeff Brown, assistant commissioner of the state Department of Health’s Medicinal Marijuana Program.
This week, NJ Cannabis Insider Live Event: Road to Legalization conference organizers added a few more speakers, including a bank executive and a city planner:
Dominic DuCap, vice president and BSA officer for BCB Bank, has joined Harry Capenter, a CPA at Citrin Cooperman, George Irwin, CEO of Green Living Technologies International, and Teresa Kearney, sales director of Panacea Payroll, on the panel Banking on it: Deposits, financing and payroll compliance.
“The marijuana industry faces many hardships in establishing necessary business functions, primarily due to the regulatory climate – and obtaining a bank account is no different,” said DuCap, who is responsible for building BCB Bank’s marijuana banking program, which was launched in 2014. “Until new laws are passed, it is important that those in the industry understand the compliance burden on the banks that do choose to bank them, and their cooperation with due diligence requirements are necessary to build a strong banking relationship.”
Here’s the remainder lineup of panels and speakers:
Cannabis activism: Preparing for the November ballot referendum, featuring Sarah Fajardo of ACLU-NJ, Jackie Cornell, 1906 edibles, and Elise Grosso, Cannabis Voter Project.
Women in Leadership with Arlene Quiñones Perez of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin, Colleen Mahr, Fanwood mayor, former president of League of Municipalities, and Tanya Osborne of Women Grow.
Update on the Garden State market will feature: Bill Caruso of Archer Law; Arlene Quiñones Perez of DeCotiis, Lynn Nowak of Porzio Governmental Affairs, and Fruqan Mouzon of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney and Carpenter.
Ins and outs of licensing: Featured speakers include: Josh Bauchner of Ansell, Grimm & Aaron, Eric Reiser, of LoFaro & Reiser, and Lisa Gora of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer.
Medical cannabis — The Next Frontier will feature: Jackie Cornell, the former principal deputy commissioner of the state Department of Health and the current Chief of Policy and Health Innovations at 1906 edibles; Dr. Monica Taing, the medical sciences liaison for 4Front Advisors; Dr. David Nathan, the founder of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation; Tom Schultz, CEO of CTPharma, and attorney Sheila Mints of Capehart Scatchard.
Hemp: Understanding N.J.’s new cash crop will feature: Joseph Zoltowski, NJDA’s director of the Plant Industry Division; and Jennifer Cabrera of Vicente Sederberg, and Scott Rudder, president of the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association.
CBD: Navigating this exploding market will feature: Ken Vande Vrede of HillviewMed, Amanda Terpstra of BestBüds, and Dan McKillop of Scarinci Hollenbeck.
Where towns stand: NIMBY or Welcome to town? features: Colleen Mahr, the mayor of Fanwood and the former president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, Stacey Udell of HBK, Chirali V. Patel of Carella Byrne, Mike McQueeny of Genova Burns, and Sheena Cullum, mayor of South Orange.
N.J.’s Commitment to Diversity: Moving from conversation to action will feature: Leo Bridgewater, national director of EdifyPAC, Roz McCarthy, founder/CEO of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, and Imani Dawson, vice president and managing partner of MJM Strategy, and Jessica F. Gonzalez, general counsel for Minorities for Medical Marijuana and an attorney at Bressler, Amery & Ross.
Insuring your canna-business: Understanding the risks and how to safeguard your property and people will feature: Karen Adamsbaum of John Morgan McLachlan Agency; Holly DeLorenzo, of Hardenbergh Insurance Group, and Max Meade of Brown & Brown.
Special attention will also be given to a priority outlined in Jake Honig’s Law: awarding 15% of licenses to minority owners and 15% to women, disabled people and veterans. More speakers and panels will be announced in the coming days.
The NJ Cannabis Insider Live: Road to Legalization presented by Curaleaf NJ is brought to you by our partners: Archer Law, Genova Burns, BGill Group, Scarnici Hollenbeck, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, Capehart Scatchard, 1906, HBK, Citrin Cooperman, Adaptive HR, John Morgan McLachlan Agency, Hardenbergh Insurance Group, Panacea Payroll and Vicente Sederberg.
Tickets to the March 10 event are available here.
NJ Cannabis Insider is a weekly subscriber-based newsletter produced by NJ Advance Media, which also publishes NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated papers.
