Each instructor is an expert in the subject area that they teach. Many have advanced degrees, teach at other reputable colleges, and/or provide education in the cannabis industry in the form of speaking engagements across the United States. We would not be able to provide you with this material if it were not for our great teachers. Thank you to all!
Department of Plant Biology Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
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Sarah practiced law as a public defender working at the Legal Aid Society, representing individuals charged with both low level and serious crimes before founding Valley Wellness – a company that applied for a medical dispensary permit in the August, 2019 Request for Applications from the New Jersey Department of Health. Sarah spearheaded all aspects of the application process, including: raising capital, hiring team members, securing town approvals, and writing the permit application. Through a partnership with Raritan Valley Community College, Sarah created NJ Cannabis Certified in March, 2020 and the class expanded to Mercer County Community College in January, 2021. Sarah is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Cannabis Law, Executive Committee, is a NORML Legal Committee Member, and a member of the International Cannabis Bar Association. Sarah was previously a United Auto Workers local 2325 member and office Vice President while at the Legal Aid Society. She graduated from the University of Miami, Florida obtaining both her B.A. and J.D. there. Sarah was a public interest scholarship recipient and founded a youth mentoring program in Miami during law school. She grew up in West Windsor, New Jersey and currently lives in Morris County.
Tim Weigand has nearly a decade of hands-on experience and a track record of success in managing two cannabis Alternative Treatment Centers in New Jersey. Beginning his medical cannabis career in 2011 with Greenleaf Compassion Center, Montclair, Tim helped them become New Jersey’s first dispensary to open. In October 2015 Tim returned to his South Jersey roots taking a position with Compassionate Care Foundation, located in Egg Harbor Township. In June 2020, Compassionate Care Foundation was acquired by Acreage Holdings, a multi-state operating, publicly traded cannabis conglomerate. Tim was offered his current position of Senior Director of NJ Operations, and now oversees all of Acreage NJ’s cultivation, processing, manufacturing activities and two dispensary locations.
Tim has worked in all facets of cannabis operations, from his start in patient reception and counseling with Greenleaf, then managing day-to-day operations of CCF; through his current oversight and strategic development of Acreage NJ. This range of positions, progressively gained, gives Tim a view of the entire spectrum of issues and tasks from having done them, not simply talking or reading about them. His cannabis insight has increased overall yields, with tremendous improvements to overall product quality, along with setting standards for quality assurance measures and improving process efficiency. He has planned and executed major facility renovations and expansions; including construction of new cultivation rooms, upgrades to security systems, increasing of power and utilities, dispensary renovations, extraction laboratories and manufactured product development.
Because Tim has been involved in the NJ cannabis industry from its inception, he has seen first-hand what the industry was and what it has evolved to today, which gives him unique vision and insight of what it will be in both the near and longer term. Tim grew up in Manchester, New Jersey, and lives in Egg Harbor Township with his wife and daughters. His aim is to continue his growth, to set and exceed new goals, and to leave a meaningful and lasting impact on the community.
Thomas is a professor in the plant biology department at Rutgers University, and prior to that, an Associate and Assistant Professor, since 1980. His interests are plant-endophyte interactions in cacao, coffee and grasses, medicinal chemistry of Lilium longiflorum, postharvest disease control in cut-flowers and fruit. Thomas teaches Horticulture 101 at Rutgers and has been a member of the advisory board for the Ornamental Horticulture Curriculum at Mercer County Community College since 1995. Thomas has published in multiple peer reviewed journals and is a frequent presenter. He is also a member of the Rutgers Hemp Extension Program.
Seth is a partner at the law firm of Florio Perrucci Steinhardt Cappelli Tipton & Taylor LLC. Seth’s expertise is in corporate law, real estate transactions, corporate governance, including formation and mergers and acquisitions, as well as health care law. In regards to cannabis, he has experience representing operators and applicants for permits across the United States, specifically in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio. Seth has successfully represented clients that have appealed adverse permit rulings, as well as representing ancillary cannabis businesses. He is the Co-Chair of the Cannabis Law Executive Committee of the State Bar Association and has presented on numerous topics related to cannabis law in the State of New Jersey including emerging issues in insurance coverage and employment law issues. Prior to joining the firm, he clerked in the New Jersey Appellate Division. Seth is a graduate of Rutgers University and received his J.D. at Rutgers Newark where he served on the Moot Court and Law Review.
Dr. Jahan Marcu has over 15 years of experience in cannabis research, policy, and operations. He has been a passionate advocate focused on consumer safety and the medical benefits of cannabis. He is also among a select group of professionals globally that has earned a PhD focused on the endocannabinoid system (with research on the structure and function of cannabinoid receptors, molecular pharmacology of the endocannabinoid system). Furthermore, his efforts include the development of international certification and training programs, co-authoring American Herbal Pharmacopeia’s Cannabis Monograph. He is credited for assisting in the creation of the first nationally adopted standards for the cannabis and hemp industry as the laboratory committee chairman of the cannabis committee for the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA). His dedication to consumer safety is further evident in his work to co-develop a biotech application to predict drug-drug interactions between cannabis and commonly prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. Additionally, Dr. Marcu co-authored one of the first product safety studies on CBD products. Dr. Marcu also provides advising services to government offices in the United States.
Dr. Marcu’s work has been instrumental to facilitating and supporting fact-based, scientific approaches vital to industry and patients. This has included research focused on solving the structure and function of cannabinoid receptors, the anti-cancer properties of cannabis compounds, as well as method development and validation for analyzing complex formulations. He is also a court-qualified expert witness on cannabis and cannabinoids. Dr. Marcu has published basic and clinical research and is also trained in psilocybin-assisted therapy.
Kristen Goedde, founder and COO of Trichome Analytical, brings a host of experience in analysis and laboratory management under ISO 17025 certifications. She has managed quality control, analytical and workflow efforts throughout her career with special emphasis on environmental and health and safety testing. A longtime supporter of decriminalization and legalization of cannabis, Kristen became interested in cannabis as a career path when her mother was diagnosed with ALS and enrolled into the New Jersey Medicinal Marijuana Program. After learning more about the industry and seeing a great need for reliable, consistent testing, she founded Trichome Analytical in 2018 with a deep commitment to raising the bar in quality of testing and analysis.
Bianca has spent over two years working in the cannabis industry as a cultivator, with experience leading vegatative care and propagation, cultivation compliance, and data management. Currently, she is the CEO of a consulting company, Reaffirm LLC, assisting cultivation facilities, dispensaries, and educational institutions. Her podcast “Word Medicine” debuts at the end of October.
Bianca is a master’s student in the Pharmaceutical Sciences: Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating in May 2024. She is currently, doing graduate research for the Banks lab at UW-Madison on serotinergic compounds. Focused on learning the development and deployment of psychoactive drugs. She completed a dual bachelor’s in Biochemistry and Plant Biology from Rutgers University. While in her undergraduate studies, she obtained an Economic and Medicinal Botany certificate and minored in Philosophy. She also performed research on the cultivation and extraction of aromatic plants, namely nepeta sp. at Rutgers.
Her life’s aim is to continue to research the cultivation, ethnobotany, pharmacology, phenomenology, phytochemical analysis, and clinical application of plant-derived compounds with therapeutic potential. Focusing on those with psychoactive properties.
Mollie Hartman Lustig is the Chair of McLaughlin and Stern’s Cannabis Practice Group. Mollie’s clients include cannabis business operators, management service operators, cannabis vendors and cannabis investors. Her practice focuses on providing regulatory, licensing (both State and Local), selective litigation, and business/transactional counsel to clients. Mollie has been a member of the NJSBA’s Cannabis and Psychedelic Law Special Committee (“CPLC”) since 2017 and is serving as the Secretary of the Committee for the 2023-2024 year. Mollie was the Co-Chair of the CPLC’s Social Justice and Equity Subcommittee and remains an active member of that subcommittee, and sits on the CLSC’s Municipal and Land Use Sub-committee. She has focused significant efforts over the last two years on creating dialogue within the legal community about the processing of expungements in the state and the present status of same. Most recently, along with her colleagues, she spearheaded efforts to advocate to the NJ Attorney General ‘s Office and the Administrative Office of the Courts for the swift expungement of records and addressing the process, which has been plagued by delays. She has been and continues to be an NJICLE lecturer, has been a guest lecturer at the Yale Club, and is a frequent presenter for NJ.com’s Cannabis Insider programming. Mollie is an instructor at Rutger’s Law School for their Cannabis Law and Business Certificate Program and was an invited panelist at Howard University Law School, Human & Civil Rights Law Review’s 8th Annual C. Clyde Ferguson Symposium. Mollie was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in the area of Cannabis Law for 2022 and 2023; was named to the NJ Insider’s Top 100 Cannabis Power List (2022); and was recently awarded NJ.com’s 2023 Cannabis Award for Excellence in Cannabis Law: Municipal Law and nominated in the category of Excellence in Cannabis Law: Applications. She also brought home the award for Excellence in Cannabis Law for the Firm. Mollie was named by the Cannabis Law Report and Cannabis Law Journal as a Global Top 200 Cannabis Lawyer for the past two years and is regularly called upon by New Jersey and Legal news outlets for comment on the cannabis industry.
