BC Cannabis Summit 2022
‘Roll it up, hash it out’
The cloud of cannabis smoke was thick during the opening festivities of the B.C. Cannabis Summit last week on the rooftop of the historic Eldorado Hotel in Kelowna.
If you looked hard enough through the haze, you saw some faces you wouldn’t expect at a 4/20 light-up.
“How’s your wife?” asked Kelowna–Lake Country Conservative MP Tracy Gray of one attendee as he re-lit his joint. Well-known Kelowna Coun. Maxine Dehart was also in on that conversation.
A little further along the rooftop, South Okanagan–West Kootenay NDP MP Richard Cannings spoke with others about potential federal legalization in the U.S. and how Nelson’s economic roots were once buried in the illicit weed economy.
While the MPs didn’t spark a doobie themselves (rather sticking to a conventional glass of wine), just the fact they were there was notable, even if the conversation got a little awkward at times.
Throughout the three-day summit—the first of its kind in Kelowna—participation by some of the community’s most influential residents was an admirable show of progressive thinking.
The three-day event is organized by the BC Craft Farmers Co-op and the Association for Canadian Cannabis Retailers (ACCRES).
We were there in force
As a media sponsor, the oz. has carried full coverage of the event. We also had a booth there (No. 11), where we distributed copies of the latest magazine (as well as back copies). The booth was run by Anne Marie from Okanagan Cannabis Tours, feature writer Simon Gerard, and the oz. associate editor Jenny Neufeld.
Publisher David Wylie moderated two popular panels—one on tourism and economic growth and a second on digital communications.
Summit headlines
We’ve stacked our BC Cannabis Summit headlines here for easy access to our coverage:
• Not a lot of nice things to say about Health Canada
• Pistol and Paris wins tight race for ARCannabis Cup
• Kelowna is ‘cannabis friendly,’ says mayor
• Here are the BC Budtenders’ Craft Cannabis Award winners
• 5 things not to miss at the BC Cannabis Summit
• ‘Wildly popular’ BC Cannabis Summit ready to roll