By Alexander LaCasse, news correspondent

In the midst of a national conversation about the legalization of marijuana, the New England Cannabis Convention (NECC) aims to bring a professional and educational angle to the argument. The inaugural NECC will be held on Jan. 31 at the Castle at Park Plaza.

According to medical marijuana activist Mike Cann, the goal of the convention is to connect medicinal marijuana patients with some of the major vendors and educational institutions in the field, including the Northeastern Institute of Cannabis (NIC).

“We are here to support patients,” Cann, who is responsible for booking the convention’s speakers and presentations, said. “We also want to get the businesses, people and politicians together in the same room and [start] raising the underground to the above-ground and bringing synergy between these groups.”

Medical marijuana was legalized in Mass. in January 2013. Currently, the only legal methods to obtain marijuana are for patients to either grow it themselves or register a “caregiver,” someone who grows it for patients, with the Mass. Department of Public Health (DPH).

According to Cann, the mandatory registration with the DPH has a chilling effect among growers. These growers believe that the state could possibly slow down the implementation of medicinal marijuana and go after the caregivers as drug suppliers.

According to a July 10 report by the Marijuana Policy Project, 11 of 20 original applicants to open non-profit marijuana dispensaries were given certificates from the DPH to open and could be operational as early as November. According to Cann, part of the motivation behind putting on the convention was to show Mass. politicians that patients have been let down by the administrative lag in rolling out the legal dispensaries.

“It just seems to be more of a political process rather than an efficient one,” Marc Shepard of Dig Boston, who is also one of the organizers of the NECC, said. “I think this convention will create a forum for more people to learn the process and if that motivates them to get politicians to act, great.”

For residents and students who think a cannabis convention will resemble the Boston Freedom Rally this past weekend, Shepard emphasized that the convention is designed to be a professional environment and was not organized to glamorize cannabis use. According to Shepard, the focus is primarily on patient awareness of different cannabis products as well the benefits of non-drug related uses for marijuana plants, like hemp fiber and soap.

“I would hope the purpose of this convention is for the legitimate benefit of patients and not just another excuse for the public to gather and smoke pot,” Bennett Courrier-Oaster, a senior environmental studies and political science double major, said. “People who will be relying on this industry for treatment need to be educated on how it will work, and the general public has the chance to learn what the potential benefits are for patients.”

Some of the notable speakers at the convention will be comedian N’A’ Pope, political candidate Vermin Supreme and Maine State Representative Diane Russell (D-Portland). In addition to the Boston convention, there will also be cannabis conventions held in Providence, R.I. and Portland, Maine later in the year.

 Photo courtesy Dank Depot, Creative Commons