10:00 am - 11:00 am - From Rooms to Zones — Food Safety Lessons for Cannabis Facilities
How FSMA-style environmental monitoring and zoning models can transform cannabis facility risk management.

Food manufacturers rely on FSMA-aligned Environmental Monitoring Programs (Zones 1–4) to control pathogens, validate sanitation, and prevent recalls. As cannabis cultivation and manufacturing scale, these same principles are becoming essential for facility design, airflow control, sanitation validation, and microbial risk management.

This panel translates proven food-grade safety frameworks into practical guidance for cannabis operations—moving from room-based thinking to risk-based zoning, supported by data, culture, and accountability.

• Moderator: Benjamin Miller
• Panelists: Peter Porteres, Shannon McCoy, Rafael Bombonato, Maria McIntyre

Key Discussion Points:

• Translating FSMA Zones 1–4 into cultivation and manufacturing environments

• Designing clean zones, airflow, and personnel movement to reduce cross-contamination

• Building effective Environmental Monitoring Programs (EMP)

• Using rapid testing vs. reference methods to support real-time decisions

• Embedding food-safety culture across operations, not just compliance teams

1:45 pm - 2:45 pm - Beyond Total Yeast & Mold — Toward Modern, Risk-Based Microbial Standards
Re-evaluating legacy microbial metrics as cannabis aligns with food and pharmaceutical safety models.

As food and pharmaceutical safety frameworks continue to evolve toward pathogen- and species-specific risk assessment, the cannabis sector faces critical decisions about how to modernize its microbial testing standards. This panel examines the historical role of Total Yeast & Mold (TYM), its scientific and operational limitations, and emerging regulatory models that better reflect actual health risk.

Panelists will explore how risk-based, species-specific detection can improve safety outcomes, regulatory defensibility, and operational decision-making—while reducing unintended consequences associated with broad microbial thresholds.

• Moderator: Sherman Hom
• Panelists: Zamir Punja, Nandakumara D. Sarma, Heather Krug, Jean Gonnell

Key Discussion Points:

• The historical role—and limitations—of Total Yeast & Mold as a safety metric
  
  
• Why plating-based total counts often fail to reflect pathogenic risk
  
  
• Advantages of species-specific detection for actionable risk management
  
  
• Regulatory considerations when transitioning to modern microbial frameworks
  
  
• Balancing public health, compliance clarity, and laboratory feasibility

3:45 pm - 4:45 pm - The Federal Playbook — FDA, FSMA, USDA, USP, and the Legal Path to Cannabis Oversight
How science, standards, and law converge as cannabis approaches federal regulation

As federal legalization and oversight come into view, cannabis businesses will increasingly operate under the same frameworks that govern food, botanicals, dietary supplements, and pharmaceuticals. This panel brings together leaders from regulatory science, standards organizations, and law to outline the emerging federal playbook—where science, statute, and safety expectations intersect.

The discussion will examine how existing federal systems may extend to cannabis, including FSMA 204 traceability and supply-chain accountability, USDA cultivation and quality standards, USP monographs as microbial and chemical reference points, and the legal implications of federal preemption, labeling, and health claims.

• Moderator: Benjamin Miller
• Panelists: Nandakumara D. Sarma, William McKinney, Ethan Russo, Alex Adams

Key Discussions Points:

• Grounds cannabis regulation in existing federal systems, not speculation

• Clarifies how labs, cultivators, and manufacturers should prepare now

• Aligns scientific testing, legal risk, and standards adoption in one session

• Directly relevant to MSOs, labs, regulators, investors, and legal teams

5:45 pm - 6:45 pm - Cannabis Regulatory Agencies — Best Practices & Challenges in Protecting Patients and Consumers
How state and international regulators are shaping cannabis safety—and what it will take to achieve national consistency

As cannabis markets mature, regulators face the dual challenge of protecting public health while adapting to rapidly evolving science, products, and business models. This panel brings together state, international, and industry-adjacent regulatory voices to discuss best practices, common pitfalls, and emerging solutions for building durable cannabis safety frameworks.

Panelists will examine how agencies approach standard-setting, enforcement, laboratory oversight, and stakeholder engagement—and what lessons can be shared across jurisdictions as the industry moves toward greater national and international alignment.

• Moderator: Heather Krug
• Panelists: Joanne Moorehouse, Jean Gonnell, Sherman Hom, Shannon McCoy

Key Discussion Points:

• Building science-based standards under political and operational constraints

• Managing enforcement consistency across diverse licensees and labs

• Updating rules as products, methods, and risks evolve

• Regulator–industry engagement without regulatory capture

• Lessons from international and federalized cannabis systems