United in Compassion (UIC), a non-profit organisation advocating for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis in Australia, has announced the date for its next symposium and launched a crowdfunding campaign for a new documentary series.
Symposium to feature local and international speakers
The UIC symposium, which will be held on June 8-10, 2023, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, will feature a range of local and international speakers from various fields of cannabis research, education, policy, and practice. Some of the confirmed speakers include:
- Professor Iain McGregor, Academic Director of the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney
- Dr David Meiri, Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology
- Dr Peter Grinspoon, Primary Care Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor at Harvard Medical School
- Dr Judith Lacey, Head of Supportive Care and Integrative Oncology at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Comprehensive Cancer Centre
- Dr Annabelle Manalo-Morgan, Co-founder and CEO of Cannabis Patient Advocacy and Support Services (CPASS)
The symposium will also include a nurses program, an industry program, and a patient forum, as well as networking opportunities and an exhibition hall. The event aims to provide a platform for sharing the latest developments and best practices in the field of medicinal cannabis, as well as to foster collaboration and dialogue among stakeholders.
Doco series to showcase the stories of patients and advocates
In addition to the symposium, UIC has also launched a crowdfunding campaign for a new documentary series titled “Cannabis: The Medicine That Changed My Life”. The series will feature the stories of patients and advocates who have benefited from or fought for access to medicinal cannabis in Australia and abroad.
The series will be produced by award-winning filmmaker Helen Kapalos, who previously directed the documentary “A Life of Its Own: The Truth About Medical Marijuana”, which was released in 2017 and screened at various film festivals and events. Kapalos, who is also the Chair of the Victorian Multicultural Commission, said she was inspired by the courage and resilience of the people she met while making the first documentary.
“I was blown away by the stories of ordinary Australians who had extraordinary experiences with medicinal cannabis, and who faced enormous challenges and stigma to access a medicine that improved their quality of life. I felt compelled to share their stories with a wider audience and to raise awareness and understanding of this complex and controversial issue,” she said.
The crowdfunding campaign, which is hosted on the platform Pozible, aims to raise $150,000 by May 31, 2023, to cover the production costs of the series. The campaign offers various rewards for backers, such as digital downloads, DVDs, T-shirts, posters, and tickets to the symposium and the premiere screening of the series.
UIC founder and director Lucy Haslam, who started the organisation after her late son Dan used medicinal cannabis to treat his terminal cancer, said she hoped the series would help educate the public and influence policy change.
“We believe that cannabis is a medicine that can benefit many people who suffer from chronic and debilitating conditions, and that they should have safe and legal access to it. We hope that this series will show the human side of this issue and inspire more compassion and action from the government and the community,” she said.
