Indigenous Perspectives of Cannabis Use on Turtle Island: Jordy Cates Phd Student

"It's a Plant & That's Why I Think it's a Medicine":
Indigenous Perspectives of Cannabis Use on Turtle Island

Jordy Cates
PhD Student

This presentation is a single session from the 2025 Medical Cannabis and Recovery Forum. The Full Video can be viewed here:    • 2025 Medical Cannabis and Recovery Forum -...  

Medical Cannabis and Recovery Forum
📍 Thompson Rivers University – Alumni Theatre, Kamloops, BC
🗓️ Saturday, April 26 | 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM

🎥 The 2025 Medical Cannabis and Recovery Forum was a landmark event hosted at Thompson Rivers University, bringing together leading researchers, clinicians, and people with lived experience to explore the role of medical cannabis in addiction recovery and harm reduction.

Organized by TRU’s School of Nursing in partnership with the Maverick Research Project and the ASK Wellness Society, this free public forum highlights groundbreaking new findings, including early outcomes demonstrating a 90% success rate in a cannabis-assisted treatment protocol—developed and delivered without external funding.

💬 Expert Panel Includes:
Dr. Floriann Fehr, TRU Associate Professor of Nursing & Principal Investigator, Maverick Research Project
Dr. Ian Mitchell, Emergency Physician, Royal Inland Hospital
Michael Koehn, Registered Clinical Counsellor & Founder, CannSolve Clinic
Taylor Pridy, Peer Coordinator, ASK Wellness Society
Dr. M.J. Milloy, Research Scientist, BC Centre on Substance Use
Dr. Zach Walsh, Psychology Professor, UBC & Director, Therapeutic & Problematic Substance Use Lab
Bob Hughes, Executive Director, ASK Wellness Society
Maverick Lived-Experience Panel Members, sharing personal journeys of healing and resilience

🔎 What to Expect:
This forum dives deep into how culturally grounded, trauma-informed, and evidence-based approaches—including the use of medical cannabis—are helping reshape addiction care in BC. From peer-based care to frontline medical insight, this is a powerful and timely conversation during an era marked by the toxic drug crisis.

❤️ Special Thanks:
We gratefully acknowledge the Secwépemc Nation, on whose unceded territory this forum took place. We are especially honoured by the leadership of Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir, and the ongoing guidance of Elders and Knowledge Keepers walking with us on the path toward healing and truth.

🔔 Subscribe for more important conversations, research findings, and community-led initiatives addressing health, recovery, and Indigenous resilience.

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#MedicalCannabis #AddictionRecovery #HarmReduction #TRU #ASKWellness #MaverickProject #CannabisResearch #OpioidCrisis #IndigenousHealth #KamloopsEvents #SubstanceUseRecovery #LivedExperience #TraumaInformedCare #SecwepemcHealing