Josh Crossney
Age: 31
Company: jCanna and Cannabis Science Conference
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Position: President and Founder
Before getting involved in cannabis, Josh Crossney did recruiting and staffing for the analytical science industry. He’d also done some work in corporate training and event planning.
But as more and more states across the country began to liberalize their cannabis laws, Crossney saw a need for advancement in cannabis science, particularly in testing technologies and standardization. In addition, many scientists he knew had little idea how to go about the testing, or even gain access to cannabis for testing.
It was a “perfect storm for the creation of jCanna,” a nonprofit organization that includes cannabis industry insiders, scientists, doctors, policy makers and anyone else interested in working to advance awareness of cannabis.
“Many of the entrepreneurs starting cannabis testing labs lacked experience in natural products sample preparation and analytical testing,” he says. “We set out to embrace, educate and empower this new industry.”
The group regularly hosts meetings and roundtables on topics like sample preparation, chromatography, cannabinomics, terpene profiling, contamination analysis, regulations, scientific standards and more.
Crossney says he is excited that American culture is moving away from “anecdotal evidence toward advanced clinical trials.” He encourages others to do what he did and find a way to match their skillset with a need in the industry and then get involved.
“I always tell people not to conform to the cannabis industry, but to bring their special skills and experiences to the cannabis industry,” he says.