This month on the Unchained Webinar, Stephen hosted an interview with Kelly Beker, from the Cannabis Education Guild. Kelly is the CEO and Executive Director, helping to create a healthy education around the topic of Cannabis and Hemp. Stephen and Kelly first connected when brought together by the 8.7 Commonwealth Network. Kelly is a Global Social Impact Leader and a speaker at conferences, universities, and community groups about Cannabis. She shared about how the medical and industrial use of cannabis intersects with the risks of modern slavery.
The key takeaways from this discussion with Kelly were:
1) The production of Cannabis is increasingly becoming legalised throughout the world for the production of medicine, apparel, fuel, and feed including over 26,000 types of products. The growth of this industry is only beginning and so as a result are the risks.
2) Governments and organisations have an opportunity to bring this product into the mainstream of agriculture and to ensure that suitable regulations and mechanisms are in place for monitoring and reporting modern slavery risks.
3) There is much to learn and unlearn about the use of Cannabis and the Cannabis Education Guild has many resources, learning, and tools to help people understand this growing industry and the associated opportunities and risks especially among seasonal workers.
