Debate with experts on cannabis

How to use such a versatile plant as cannabis in agriculture, industry or healthcare?

These and other questions bring together experts in the field of cannabis and issues connected with it every year at Fort Science. The main topic this year is the legalization of the use of cannabis for recreational purposes, on which the national anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil will also comment on the issue. A discussion entitled Cannabis, Without Prejudice, will take place on 12 December at 7:00 p.m. in the Laudon Hall with Petr Tarkowski from CATRIN as the host. Admission to the event is free.

The guests will talk about three key areas: legalization, cannabis as a superfood and hemp as a material for the future (hemp seed, hemp flower, hemp fibre, hemp shives). The experts will also touch upon the issue of new medicinal forms of cannabis, especially for dermatology.

“The aim of our efforts is to educate the general public as well as professionals and to promote cannabis, because as scientists we are convinced of its benefits in many areas of human life, from nutrition and sustainable agriculture to clinical and technical applications of virtually every part of the plant. Hemp has been a versatile crop used for thousands of years. Abuse of a single small group of psychoactive substances produced by this plant prevented its wider use since the 1950s,” Tarkowski said.

Another guest will be Anežka Kosmáková Janatová, a researcher at the Czech Agricultural University, who will talk about selection and characterization of varieties for individualized treatment, testing biological activity of medical cannabis varieties and new nanomaterials. A Pharmacist Jaroslav Peč, the chairman of the natural medicines section of the Czech Pharmaceutical Society of J. E. Purkyně, who focuses on the dermatological effects of cannabis, will also contribute to the discussion.

“Cannabis has great potential and also arouses great emotions. Our aim is to establish a rational public debate and find arguments for the most versatile and effective use of this plant, and thus contribute to a fundamental social change that comes with legalization and the increasing industrial use,” said Matěj Dostálek, director of Fort Science.