EVENT PROFILE

SET THE TABLE AND THE MOOD

ILEA Detroit met in November to discuss the law, facts and options of serving cannabis at events. BY KASSIDY TARALA

Jessica Savaya, Enid Parham aka Chef Sunflower, Thomas M.J. Lavigne, and Melissa Demorest LeDuc

IN 2018, MICHIGAN VOTERS APPROVED A PROPOSAL that allows for the legal licensing, regulation and enforcement of both medical and recreational cannabis use in the state. With this law change comes a variety of cannabis products and culinary options now available at events in Michigan. ILEA Detroit met on Nov. 20, 2019 to discuss these options in its meeting “Cannabis at Events: The Law, The Facts & The Culinary Options.”

“Cannabis can have a presence in the dinner entrées and the desserts at an event. One of our panel experts from the event, Chef Sunflower [aka Enid Parham], plans the meals with ‘microdoses’ of cannabis so there is not too much consumed at one time,” says Connie Seibt, event manager and vice president of programs and education, ILEA Detroit. “It should be planned ahead for the type of cannabis to infuse in the foods, i.e. providing a relaxing mood versus high energy. It can also show up in the form of a cannabis bar where guests are able to select the strand/mood they'd want, and then they can choose to smoke it or eat it as an edible.” Other panelists to join Chef Sunflower were Melissa Demorest LeDuc, member of Demo Law, and Thomas M.J. Lavigne, partner of Cannabis Counsel, who shared what cannabis use in the events industry might look like.

“One of our panel experts, Attorney Thomas Lavigne, relayed some information on how [cannabis in the events industry] has looked in other states when working to get the law passed here in Michigan,” Seibt says. “He mentioned that other states such as California had tax rates over 30 percent, so it was very important for them to fight for low taxes here in the retail cannabis market.”

As an ILEA organization, Seibt says ILEA Detroit has connections to other ILEA chapters around the country and world that they can turn to for advice on how they’ve incorporated cannabis at events. Another topic discussed during the Cannabis at Events panel was misconceptions surrounding cannabis use.

“Many people think you smoke it and eat it in a brownie and get really high. There are many other ways of using cannabis, and the culinary world is endless and focuses on a very low high; everything is in moderation,” Seibt says. “Cannabis ointments are also used to treat many body ailments, and you can receive the same effect as you would digesting it. Also, smoking [cannabis] has a much lower effect as compared to digesting it. People are interested but feel they have so much to learn.”

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