Cannabis Laws & Science

Heather Despres Related Seminars and Products

Americans for Safe Access

Heather Despres, M.Sc. is serving as the Director of the Patient Focused Certification (PFC) program at Americans for Safe Access, a non-profit whose missions is to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. Her prior experience in cannabis testing laboratories, as well as environmental and pharmaceutical labs, brings with it years of working to ensure that the products made for cannabis consumers is safe. She is excited to continue growing the PFC program and bring compliance awareness to the cannabis and hemp industry.

James Stephens Related Seminars and Products

Aurelis Data, Inc.

Mr. James Stephens is a senior product development executive with 20 years of
experience developing products in highly regulated environments like pharmaceuticals,
nutritional supplements, food, flavor, and fragrance. James is a co-founder of Aurelius
Data, which specializes in the analysis of scientific-analytical data with cross-referenced
consumer sentiment and experience data for the identification of novel impacts of active
materials, with a primary focus on cannabinoid containing products. He also is co-
founder of Iron Light LLC, a natural product investment and development firm that
specializes in sustainable business solutions. Mr. Stephens was formerly the CEO of
Blue Marble - a natural chemical development company that worked for fortune 50
companies, developing natural and sustainable pathways for new and existing products
with a specialization in compliance with US and EU natural flavor regulations. Blue
Marble was acquired by Socati, a precision cannabinoid manufacturer in April of 2019,
to accelerate GMP and food-grade compliance in the hemp sector and integrate a
natural approach to consumer innovation.  

James's real talents blossomed in the flavor and fragrance industry when Blue Marble
began to specialize in developing flavor product pathways that follow 21 CFR 501.22
and EC 1334 / 2008.  During this time, it became apparent that compliance was a vital
part of new product development, and regulatory compliance with USDA, FDA, FTC,
and similar rules would be critical for any new ingredient industry. Regulatory
compliance is a crucial part of the work he performs in all of the industries that he works
in and is especially passionate to see GMP, 21 CFR standards applied consistently to
the cannabinoid space. These standards would improve the quality of products and
guarantee customers have safer access to products.

Andrew Hall Related Seminars and Products

Green Scientific Labs

Dr. Hall is widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable and outside the box thinkers in the cannabis industry. Having received his Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Chemistry and Biology, Hall went on to pursue both his Masters and PhD at Florida Atlantic University, majoring in Chemistry with a focus on natural products chemistry.

Dr. Hall possesses a vast amount of experience in the laboratory space, holding senior positions in toxicology labs, clinical labs, and cannabis labs. He has been instrumental in leading labs through successful ISO 17025 accreditation in multiple states and most recently, at Green Scientific Labs in FL.

Antonio Frazier Related Seminars and Products

Cannasafe Labs

Antonio Frazier is the VP of Operations at CannaSafe, the fi rst ISO licensed cannabis
lab in the world, and the leading market shareholder in California. He met CannaSafe
President Aaron Riley while playing football together at Furman University, where he
earned a Bachelor of Science degree; he also holds a B.S. in Materials Engineering from
Clemson. Frazier began his career as a Nuclear Quality Engineer for the Tennessee Valley
Authority, certifying and verifying the fi nal construction of nuclear components. He then
moved into aerospace engineering, performing quality assurance for the foundry, testing
lab, heat treat, and special fi nishing departments for SKF USA (Baltimore). Frazier enjoys
using his industrial, public safety-focused skillset to forge the standards of a burgeoning
industry; cannabis is a huge bonus. He has expanded CannaSafe’s community involvement
with a heavy focus on social equity and accessible consumer safety education. Frazier

joined the Americans for Safe Access board in 2020.

Margaret Richardson Related Seminars and Products

Global Widget

Margaret Richardson serves as the Chief Compliance and Legal Officer for Global Widget, LLC. Prior to joining Global Widget, LLC Margaret served as General Counsel and Head of Regulatory for Anuvia Plant Nutrients. Margaret has also held the title of Vice President, Legal for Mayne Pharma Inc. and Endo Pharmaceuticals and General Counsel of Jubilant Life Sciences. She brings a unique educational background with science and business degrees before completing her JD at North Carolina Central University. She is licensed in North Carolina, California and before the USPTO as a Patent Attorney. She has been an attorney for 20+ years.

Margaret focuses on working collaboratively across business organizations to build and foster a culture of compliance and has extensive experience working thru the legislative process to drive legal and regulatory reform.