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Educators and Public Speakers

Our team, collaborative health professionals with decades of clinical experience, are educators and public speakers. Their ongoing interdisciplinary cannabis discussion is passionate, reasonable, and sensitive to society’s changing views. Kirk and Trevor are well-informed researchers often presenting divergent application ideas on how cannabis augments Best Practices.  This Nurse and Pharmacist are knowledgeable to a wide variety of hot topics including, harm reduction, primary care services, medical cannabis application, and cannabis as a substance of abuse. Hire Kirk and Trevor for keynote speech, workshop, or educational seminar.

Kirk Nyquist RN BSN MA

Kirk has been a long-time advocate of cannabis, and his unique 42-year nursing career allows him great understanding of health systems. He brings both academic and practical knowledge to the fields of acute care management, community health services, primary care access, ER/EMS/fire rescue integration, along with college-level program development and instruction. In the past seven years he has deepened his cannabis knowledge by interviewing cannabis scientists, researchers, prescribers, users, sellers, and growers for his passion project podcast.  As a self-employed nurse, Kirk is a teacher, counselor, and an advocate of enhancing health and well-being. He applies the nursing process to individuals, communities and populations when discussing cannabis, which can maintain, restore, or affect optimal physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social health. Kirk shares his learning of how cannabis applies to nursing practice across generations through Reefer Medness – The Podcast by exploring plant medicine in a measured and professional manner. His professional belief is personal wellness is always defined by the individual. Chasing down cannabis stories has become his new passion.

Trevor Shewfelt B.Sc., B.Sc. Pharm., CRE

What do you mean we can’t send medicinal cannabis to a care home patient?” In 2017, Trevor’s practice took a turn when he learned that although they could send cancer chemotherapy and opioids like fentanyl into care homes, pharmacies were not allowed to send medicinal cannabis despite it being legal.  A Pharmacist since 1997, he has helped train a new generation of health practitioners on such subjects as: pharmacology of mental health, dementia in the elderly, and the endocannabinoid system.  He is a Certified Respiratory Educator, is authorized to give injections, treat self-limiting conditions, and deliver smoking cessation programs. He assisted with the design and implementation of the Pharmacist’s Manitoba’s Smoking Cessation Project from 2012-2014.  He has published in pharmacy trade magazines and wrote weekly newspaper and radio articles about common health complaints. His interests culminated in this passion project Reefer Medness - The Podcast.  He now interviews pharmacists, nurses, nurse practitioners, naturopathic doctors, internists, pharmacologists, and various scientists about cannabis.  These expert interviews and those with cannabis patients explore how people use cannabis to make their lives better. Every time he learns something new about cannabis, he discovers three more cannabis topics to explore.  Patients in Manitoba still can't go into a pharmacy and get cannabis and advice on how it will work with their medications and health conditions.  However, these podcast episodes are an ever growing library of why that should change.

Rene Hubener

René is an award-winning radio producer with decades worth of experience working at CHUM and Corus radio stations. He’s produced and mastered numerous musical recordings for local artists and explores literary pursuits as the Parkland Poet. His passion for quality audio production runs deep, as does his commitment to presenting impactful programming, which is why Reefer MEDness – The Podcast is a perfect fit for him. René’s zeal for being involved in the podcast stems from his admiration for both Trevor and Kirk as medical professionals who are dedicated to learning about all aspects of cannabis, combined with his curiosities around the new definitions of cannabis use and how it fits into today’s society.