Cannabis Cultures Event
Registration: http://tinyurl.com/n9awxhe
As you plan for the American Anthropological Association meeting in November, save the date for a special cannabis tour and public engagement event sponsored by APLA, Anthropology of Tourism Interest Group, Culture & Agriculture, Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition, and Society for the Anthropology of North America. The event will take place on Wednesday, November 18th, from 4:30 until 10 pm. The annual meeting in Denver, Colorado provides a unique opportunity for anthropologists to engage with local leaders and residents to learn firsthand about the possibilities and risks accompanying legalized marijuana. This event will bring colleagues together across the subfields to engage with our host city.
Tour buses will depart from the Colorado Convention Center at 4:30 pm. Buses will leave promptly on schedule, so please arrive at least fifteen (15) minutes before departure. Buses will transport guests to tour a grow house and dispensary. After the tour, participants will be transported to History Colorado Center for a discussion, forum, and networking event. At 7.15 pm, local experts will present a moderated forum about the environmental, economic, political, legal, social, and health dimensions of recent cannabis legalization, and AAA members will have the opportunity to learn from their experiences and ask questions. Food and a cash bar will be provided. After the presentations, guests are welcome to network and visit demonstrations until 10.00 pm. Local experts will give presentations about the environmental, economic, political, legal, social, and health dimensions of recent cannabis legalization at stations throughout the venus, and AAA members will have the opportunity to learn from their experiences and ask questions. Food will be provided. After the presentations, guests may remain to socialize, network, and talk more with the expert speakers.
Confirmed speakers include representatives from:
- The National Cannabis Industry Association
- Vicente Sederberg LLC (the law firm that drafted Amendment 64)
- Medicine Man Denver
- And more TBA!
Colorado’s passage of Amendment 64 in 2012 is part of a national trend toward cannabis legalization, and raises critical questions about the political, economic, and social processes that transform a cultural object (marijuana) from strange (criminal) to familiar (legal). As anthropologists, we have a shared interest in how people, materials, and cultures become familiar and strange. In the United States, cannabis criminalization is part of broader patterns and hierarchies of race, ethnicity, and class. Historically, criminalization emerged from and reproduced racialized and marginalized cultures, particularly among Latino, African American, and working-class peoples. Legalization has the potential to disrupt and transform social and economic patterns, bring different cultures of cannabis into conversation with one another, and create new models of action and exchange. This event is designed to explore and celebrate these cultures in an inclusive fashion, bringing together Colorado’s diverse cannabis scenes, including agricultural producers, tour operators, law professionals, policy advocates, health care providers, and consumers.
Sponsors aim to foster knowledge exchange, social connections, and trans-disciplinary conversations among anthropologists and Colorado residents, and are committed to the broader goal of creating engaged and public anthropology. The event will create a social and intellectual space to facilitate collaborative initiatives among scholars and artists across disciplines, as well as innovative engagements among community members and anthropologists.
The event is free, and advance registration is required.
Tinyurl: http://tinyurl.com/n9awxhe
Association for Political and Legal Anthropology 
Whatever happened with this event??
We will be opening registration next week and run an updated post with the link to register for the event, as well as a more detailed itinerary.