By Brooke Stiles
Assistant News & Features Editor
Students, staff, volunteers, and vendors gathered Thursday to put on FGCU’s first ever cannabis carnival. The event was hosted on the library lawn and aimed to educate the community about all thing’s cannabis. 
Sam Walch, an FGCU professor, designed the carnival with the help of students from his class “The War on Drugs.” Students created carnival-style activities and games based on cannabis culture to put the community’s knowledge on cannabis to the test. 
“I am so proud of the students and everyone else involved with CannaCarn 2019,” said Walch. “The event went beyond expectations and the local cannabis industry got to see FGCU as its best.” 
Tickets were purchased to participate in any of the student-run activities, but seven dispensaries were also in attendance to deliver free knowledge on what cannabis is and the benefits of it, how it is used medically, and different products to use for different pains. 
There was also free popcorn, tacos donated by Chronic Tacos for a taco-eating contest, and event T-shirts that could be purchased. All the proceeds were donated to The Grateful Veteran, a non-profit organization that helps veterans learn about healthy alternatives to pharmaceuticals, and the Livingston Foundation, which wishes to provide hope, health and happiness through cannabis education. 
“I was nervous the night before just because I was excited and hoped for a good turn out,” said Jeffrey DeMond, founder of The Grateful Veteran. “At the event, I was so pleased with the turn out and feedback from everyone I talked to – they thought it was great. I can’t wait to do it again!” 
With great success in its first event, FGCU’s Cannabis Careers Club looks to take over the carnival for 2020.
“We’ve received nothing but positive feedback and we’ve [already] started planning next year’s event,” said Walch. “Look for CannaCarn 2020 to be bigger and better!”