The Story behind
aunt betty cann
Aunt Betty Cann was inspired by our founder, Liz, after a 13 years of working at - and living on - a variety of college campuses.
While earning her Masters in Higher & Postsecondary Education from Columbia University, she first learned of the latin phrase, "in loco parentis," meaning "in the place of a parent," referring to the legal responsibility one takes on when working on a college campus.
Her immediate thought was "Oh, like a cool Aunt!" (like her own incredibly cool aunts)
Upon graduation, Liz spent the following 13 years serving in an on-call capacity on college campuses, responding to crisis situations ranging from homesickness to acute mental health crises, intoxication to assault, and everything in between, all while looking after the welfare of her students.
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It was during these crisis situations that Liz began to notice something she hadn't expected...
the common denominator fueling these incidents was alcohol, not cannabis.
Sure, cannabis created problems when students messed around with edibles, but even in those moments, the effects would wear off without any need for stomach pumping or long term hospital stays. Alcohol, however, was the culprit behind the worst situations Liz ever saw. She bore first-hand witness to the havoc it wrought upon students and families.
This realization led to Liz research the cannabis plant. This interest became so much more to her when she began to understand the therapeutic potential of the plant AND the innate social justice component to it;
not only was it wrong to have a medicinal plant kept from us all this time, but it's also wrong that people are sitting in jail because of it.
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And it's not just people still in jail...there are plenty of people who have been released after serving time and continue to face challenges like finding work, affordable housing, or just trying to expunge their records.
Liz began working part-time as a dispensary technician at a cannabis dispensary so she could learn first-hand how cannabis worked as medicine. She knew there was more to the plant than met the eye and wanted to be able to back up her claims.
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Liz worked with patients ranging from 18 to 80+ through a variety of issues: anxiety, neuropathy, back pain, sleep, gastrointestinal issues, migraines, fibromyalgia, menstrual cramps, stress (!!!) PTSD, chronic pain, and more.
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She complemented this real-world experience by earning professional certificates in both Coaching and Cannabis Education from the Cannabis Coaching Institute.
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Mission
To guide, educate, and assist those interested in learning how to use cannabis as medicine in a safe & controlled way, while also showing up as allies, raising awareness and support for those impacted by the failed war on drugs.
Vision
Aunt Betty Cann is here to change the way we talk about cannabis through education and honest dialogue. We offer services for individuals, physicians, and college administrators.
Being the "fun aunt," ABC takes pride in serving as a resource for families looking to understand how to broach cannabis conversations with each other.
but why "aunt betty"?
Whether by blood or by friendship, most of us have an aunt that we absolutely love. Aunts bridge the gap between us and our parents, often offering advice and insights that help shape up into the people we become.
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Like the aunts that support us, Aunt Betty Cann attempts to bridge the gap between plant medicine (cannabis) and "canna-curious" individuals and families.
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Cannabis is already legal in many US states and there are ways to use it safely and for medical benefit. Most people just need someone to explain how it works. You know, like a cool aunt would.
