grown compliant with section 7606 of the federal farm bill. Janel entered into the cannabis industry as a parent advocate after her research led her to the discovery that CBD sourced from the Cannabis Sativa L plant would potentially be of benefit to her child, Harmony, who suffers from a rare genetic condition called, Lissencephaly. After several failed attempts to obtain safe, tested, CBD-rich oil for her child, she decided she would become the source. Since Janel’s introducing this high CBD/low THC oil into her daughter’s life, Harmony has gained a quality of life that no synthetic drugs had ever provided her. After seeing her child’s own success, Janel made it her mission to help offer the same to all, and that is how Palmetto Synergistic Research & Palmetto Harmony were born. Her company today deals with thousands of people who have benefitted in some way from the cannabis plant and is wanting to donate her time to help advance this cause to allow access to South Carolina residents to the full plant under a comprehensive medical program.

 She also works as a volunteer with Hugs for Horses therapeutic riding program in Georgetown and is a consultant in the hotel industry; critiquing and evaluating sales team professionals as well as offering recommendation and training to increase sales capture rates. Judy’s greatest strengths are her creativity, drive and leadership. She thrives on challenges, particularly those that expand awareness of medical cannabis and its benefits. Judy is a past catering sales manager at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta where she was involved in developing and implementing sales and marketing strategies to include; securing new accounts, maintaining existing accounts, and maximizing profitability while increasing customer satisfaction. Judy organized and helped execute corporate meetings, association groups, social functions as well as catering with notable success in large-scale event planning. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from East Stroudsburg University and an MBA from University of Phoenix. She lives in Murrells Inlet with her husband, their daughter, Kira, and have two older children no longer at home.

 Don retired after 22-years of active duty from the United States Navy, as a Hospital Corpsman, 13 of those years assigned to the United Sates Marine Corps as a Combat Corpsman. During his war time experience, he administered care in multiple combat arenas to include Beirut Lebanon with the Multinational Peace Keeping Force, where he received a purple heart.  In Somalia, Don participated in Operation Restore Hope, a multinational Intervention to restore food distribution and humanitarian aid operations and aboard ship, he participated in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm.  Having experienced many military conflicts, his expertise with PTSD and other lifelong combat related injuries among veterans is a source of experience he brings to his profession as a staff nurse in the Veterans Administration Hospital system.

During his tenure he was responsible for administration of the association’s training programs, publications, and interests at the Statehouse. He served on numerous committees,and task forces regarding matters related to vulnerable adults and children and advocacy for crime victims. He also chaired the committee that brought the Amber Alert program to South Carolina. He retired in 2014.

 

I have worked since I was 14 years old, from being a janitor cleaning bathroom, to a hospital cleaning and moving patients, working in a morgue, to putting together furniture and delivering it around the low country. Every job I have had has given me new life experiences and knowledge that has brought me to where I am today.

 

I have 3 Business that we run, Vape Shop and lounge, Island Wellness and the farm. The reason I would love to be a board member, Is the fact that I am tired of sitting back and watching this world, it’s time to stand up. Please allow me to elaborate, A lot of people these days only step up when it affects their lives, but I want to show and teach a proactive lifestyle. Everyone needs to stand up and speak up for the patients that can/cannot speak for themselves. I have seen mothers get their ill child up in the morning and I have seen family members take care of ill loved ones, and in my opinion its more difficult and stress than most people have in a whole day. It is awful that healthy people can stand up and tell truly sick patients no.

 

We plan to be a strong foot in the Summerville/Charleston community, we have a few good outlets to reach a large amount of people in our community. We have the vape shop lounge, Island Wellness, and the farm that comes with a USDA license that allows us to raise exotic animals for education and does well for fundraisers! We have a group of about 20 like minded people that want to help show the benefits of CBD and medical marijuana, so when planning events, I definitely can get small groups of people to help as well. The shops have over 60 CSC sheets filled out already, and still pushing!

 

I have spent the last 20 years of my life just living for myself, I want to spend the next 30 years helping others and making a difference in our community and South Carolina. I have seen with my eyes what medical marijuana can do for people, and it needs to be available to these patients before they die.

 

Parents should never be told no, they can’t help their children, especially regulating a plant that can be grown organically and has already been proven to work in over 33 states. Just know that I would love to be on this board for the long run, I want to do everything I can to help push this bill through and would love to continue to help as much as possible even after it is passed.

Supervised IV admixture, pump maintenance, clinical dosing and recommendations to nurses/MDs, formulary management, narcotic and floor stat kits

Identifying, correcting and implementing new workflow to improve patient outcomes and employee morale

Experience includes serving as pharmacy manager for Walgreens pharmacy in Greenville, SC with responsibility for opening 5 new retail locations over a 2 year period that consisted of training 26 pharmacists and 32 technicians which generated a combined 7,125 weekly prescriptions for non-established stores in a new market.

 

 and in a variety of regulatory environments across the United States. I also assisted in the application and licensing process for numerous entities across the country. I was part of Colorado’s historic Amendment 64 Campaign, which worked with the Marijuana Policy Project to allow the use and possession of cannabis for adults over the age of 21. Lastly, during my time at the law firm I was appointed to a working group that was responsible for creating and implementing regulations for infused products in Colorado.

After working at the law firm for three years, I became In-House Counsel for an international cannabis cultivation management company. As In-House Counsel, I prepared business license applications for entities in highly regulated emerging markets such as New York, Illinois, Florida, and Nevada. Application materials addressed not only the physical requirements of these businesses, but more importantly, the compliance requirements and procedures for obtaining and maintaining licensure in these jurisdictions.

I worked as In-House Counsel for three years and then joined a national cannabis consulting company that assists applicants in obtaining licensure in new markets. During my time there I worked with numerous applicants who were seeking licenses through highly competitive application processes. This work allowed me to become acquainted with even more regulatory frameworks and compliance requirements.

I started my own law practice based out of Colorado in 2018 and continue to work with clients in Colorado. In addition to the clients I have in Colorado, I work with clients in Florida and Ohio as an industry consultant.

My time in the cannabis industry has exposed me to constantly evolving regulations which seek to balance public safety concerns with the ability for patients to gain access to medicine to treat their debilitating conditions. As someone who has seen the benefits of medical marijuana on a first-hand basis, I believe that everyone should have access to what helps them the most. Using my background and skills as an attorney I have been able to assist others as they attempt to navigate regulations in hopes of setting up businesses to provide safe and responsible access for patients.

 

Since working in this position, I have received a Daisy award and was nominated for Health Care Hero for my care of a terminally ill patient.  That patient experience inspired me to collaborate with my daughter making items for a memory making box, also referred to as legacy work.

Our unit has adopted this legacy work into our end of life care for patients. I have achieved these things by following my desire and passion to do more and to do what is right. I have working experience in providing patient and end of life care. Working in the oncology specialty I am honored to be a part of patients’ fights against their disease.  Seeing this, I will fight with them in any way I am able.

The act that I am supporting is the Compassionate Care Act. It cannot be coincidence the name of the legislation is also the care, we as nurses, aim to provide. I believe there is great potential to do good by implanting medical cannabis as a treatment option, especially in oncology and end of life care.  Our patients and our loved ones deserve all the options we can give them.”

 

Due to service connected disabilities I was able to use the Veterans Administration Vocational Rehabilitation program and complete a Master’s in Social Work degree from the University of South Carolina.

Our youngest daughter Mary-Kate has numerous health challenges such as hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and she is visually impaired. It was during my Research Method course that we tested the effectiveness of CBD oil at treating Mary-Kate’s seizures. The results were eye opening and led me to becoming and advocate for patients in South Carolina to have legal and safe access to physician recommended cannabis.

My father is a Vietnam Veteran with Parkinson’s and Multiple Systems Atrophy due to Agent Orange exposure and like all disabled veterans in South Carolina is being denied legal and safe access to physician recommended cannabis.

It is time for South Carolina to allow children like Mary-Kate and Veterans like my father access to a better quality of life.