03-26-2024
The 2nd stop of the Travel Exhibition “H is for HEMP – A Green Extravaganza” will take place at the 18th International Society of Ethnobiology* Congress (ISE Congress 2024) in Marrakesh, Morocco from the 18th – 22nd of May, 2024.
Here is a detailed description of the session, with more information under the Travel Exhibition category of the website.
Title: Session 2.6. Elevating Cannabis: A Paradigm Shift in Global Perspectives
Co-conveners: Maren Krings, International Coalition of Drugs & Environment, HARP (Human Application Research Program), Moulay Ismail University of Meknès, Germany, Czech Republic, Morocco; Jan Martin Padouk ; Khalid Mouna
Format: Open format (presentation, visual storytelling, collaborative artwork creation)
Abstract:
Morocco ranks second in global cannabis exports, trailing Afghanistan, despite the trade’s illicit nature. The Amazigh people in the Rif mountain region share a profound cultural connection with the plant. Our proposed open-format session aims to delve into cannabis’s potential role in preserving humanity and fostering harmonious coexistence with the planet.
Jan Martin Padouk, cannabis researcher and founder of the Human Application Research Program in the Czech Republic, will make a link between the global ethnobotanical aspect of the plant and modern strategies in pharmaceutical development, presenting a blueprint for a local action plan based on his Czech NGO model. Anthropologist and cannabis expert Khalid Mouna, lecturer at the Moulay Ismail University of Meknès, will discuss the risks tied to the two-way trafficking of illicit substances, fueled by Morocco’s 2021 cannabis legalisation.
Maren Krings, German artist, climate impact storyteller, and founder of the Center for Art & Humanity, will lead the experimental artwork session using photo-sensitive cannabis-derived plant colours, to create a large-scale anthotype, exposed by sunlight, in collaboration with the participants. The image to be created will reflect the storytelling from Krings’ “H is for HEMP” encyclopaedic book, emphasising industrial cannabis’s role in addressing the socio-ecological crisis.
Post-presentations, participants will engage in discussions and knowledge exchange. An integrated assessment session will explore future scenarios for agriculture, nutrition, health, and human well-being, assuming global cannabis legalisation will transform cultivation into a universal human right. The open format session’s results will be shared with all conference participants.
Language: English & Moroccan darija
Proposed duration: 180 minutes