The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), part of the University of Illinois System, Friday hosted a livestreamed riverside chat, From Seed to Social Impact, that including opening remarks from the Gov. JB Pritzker and a panelist of professionals discussing the announcement and launch of the Cannabis Research Institute (CTI) and the importance of unbiased research.

Pritzker touted Illinois’ cannabis industry, stating, “Since my earliest days in office, the General Assembly and I have been working to make Illinois the national standard for legalization and regulation. We passed a first-in-the-nation equity-centric cannabis law, which has now made Illinois by far the national leader in diverse ownership withing this industry. We always have work to do, I want to remind everybody, but we should take some pride that we’ve gotten where we are, even with the challenges we know we still have ahead of us.”

The panel was moderated by Dr. Mila K. Marshall. Panelist included:

• Dr. Reginald “Reggie” Gaudino, Director, Cannabis Research Institute at Discovery Partners Institute
• Dr. Donell Barnett, Behavioral Health Advisor at the Illinois Dept. of Human Services (DHS) and CRI’s Program Officer
• Nate Inglis Steinfeld, Deputy Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer for Research (CROO) and Data in the state of Illinois
• Eva-Dina Delgado, Illinois General Assembly House Representative 3^rd District

Gaudino spoke first about how to change the narrative about cannabis and help so “people can start to look at the plant differently, reduce the stigma, and realize the other economic opportunities that hemp and cannabis can be plugged into.” Gaudino, who came from California, saw a different “vision” for cannabis in Illinois than any other state. “In most other states, you have a program where there is not a collaborate effort,” Gaudino said. “There isn’t the ability to tap into all aspects of expertise in a system. So, between the vision and the way the University of Illinois set this up, presented a very unique opportunity which I saw perhaps as the best way to get some of these things accomplished.”

Barnett and Steinfeld spoke about collaboration and how DHS, CROO, and other state agencies are involved and how important it is to have access to cannabis research.

“It’s really about collaborating and connecting all these different partners and people who deeply about bringing nonbiased, independent, robust, worldclass research to cannabis,” Steinfeld said. He reiterating that the research is needed now to best inform legislators, the governor, and to provide “actionable real information” to consumers about what cannabis “does and does not do, what are the dangers and what are not the dangers.”

“It’s a huge gamechanger to have this information be available to the public,” said Delgado. “One of the things I know that myself and some of my other colleagues have been talking about is how we can continue to engage with people, so they can understand what the benefits are to having cannabis be a part of our economy and also what those benefits are for individuals in our community, and that’s very much going to come from our research.”

Delgado later spoke about the conversion Illinois is currently having about the lack of research around intoxicating hemp. Delgado said, “We don’t have that (researched) information at our fingertips to be able to say this is the right way to regulate it. These are the right definitions to put in here. These are the right ways that we want to make sure we are restricting or allowing access to it, and that industry is booming. We are way behind to trying to reign it back in.”

Steinfeld agreed with Delgado about having the access to the research and added, “We need the research yesterday, and we need it now. And we need the panel of researchers who are working on these subjects that we can call up say, ‘here’s what I’m wondering about, give me answers,’ knowing that they’re not funded by the industry or funded by lobbyist.” For more Illinois cannabis industry news, subscribe to Illinois News Joint’s newsletter here.

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