Save the date: Marijuana and Public Health Symposium

The Marijuana and Public Health Symposium will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 7 at Mile High Station, 2027 W. Lower Colfax Ave., Denver.

“The Colorado School of Public Health has a mission to improve collective understanding of important health issues that could benefit from broader public dialogue. Clearly, the topic of marijuana and public health is both important and timely,” said Tim Byers, M.D., MPH, director of the Center for Public Health Practice.

Organizers from Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Public Health Practice invite public health leaders as well as the general public to hear from public health experts regarding the evidence for health effects of marijuana and the public health-related policies relevant to Colorado’s marijuana laws.

“The purpose of this symposium is to collectively review the existing evidence for marijuana’s effects on health and to discuss how public health organizations in Washington State and Colorado are now defining, prioritizing and addressing the public health issues,” Byers said.

Attendees will have the chance to network and learn about topics from leaders from organizations such as the Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science, and Denver Health, to name a few.

“Attendees will benefit from an up-to-date review of the scientific evidence relating marijuana to health, from hearing how public health agencies view marijuana as a risk to public health, and from joining in the dialogue about how best to frame marijuana issues and health as we move forward,” Byers said.

Topics included in the agenda are marijuana and heart and lung disease, marijuana and mental health, marijuana and traffic safety, and marijuana issues in Colorado, and many more.

“The outcome we expect is a broader shared understanding of potential public health problems that might emerge as a result of our new approaches to marijuana legalization,” Byers said.