After 21 years of actively educating students about cannabis, the University of Victoria Student Society Hempology 101 Club is attempting to improve its ranking from a regular student club to a constituency organization. If students vote to support this upgrade, the UVSS Hempology 101 Club gains access to more funds, a seat at the Student Council, and potential office space. With legalization around the corner, the club has gone from being an activist group to having the opportunity to prepare students for a lifetime career in various cannabis fields and this step will firmly place Hempology 101 in league with other established communities like Pride and First Nations.
In the last few weeks Hempology 101 members collected enough signatures to get the club’s application to improve its standing taken to a vote amongst the student body. The vote occurs during the Annual General Meeting on Thurs Oct 27 at 3 pm in Vertigo. Members of Hempology 101 are trying to get as many supporters as possible to attend, as it is expected we will need at least 120 student, as we need 75% of student voters to support the motion and the AGM is usually not widely attended. A march is being planned to help bolster attendance, with the club gathering in the center of campus at 2:30 pm before heading to the 3 pm meeting.
In the future, if this change is approved, the club will be poised to host large education conferences and hopes to eventually create a safe place for students to consume cannabis, much like there is a safe consumption site for alcohol in the SUB. While there is no space currently available for a vapor lounge, the Hempology 101 Club would like to make sure that when space is available we have a good chance to use it. An office space will greatly improve the club’s ability to network with the emerging cannabis industry, bringing business leaders to campus to help students navigate through this new economy.
With a long history of activism at UVic, the UVSS Hempology 101 has for years been the largest and most popular club on campus. Over the years the club has organized weekly Weds 420 circles for 18 years, hosted 15 cannabis conventions and held a free, non-credit lecture series for 9 years, which is mostly available on youtube. Everyone with the group is excited to think about what might be possible with this higher status.
Hempology March for Advocacy Facebook Event Page