This post was updated Nov. 24 at 9:01 p.m.

UCLA’s Cannaclub sparks up a fresh take on cannabis culture.

Founded in 2018, Cannaclub at UCLA is a student-led organization aimed at educating the student body on safe cannabis usage while reducing stigma through educational events, social events and industry partnerships. Cannaclub co-director and third-year psychology student Sydney Douglas said the club was originally founded to provide like-minded students a space to connect over cannabis, which is still seen as taboo.

“We’re a student-run organization, just like all of the other clubs,” Douglas said. “Instead of asking, ‘How is this real? How is this allowed?’ the next question should be, ‘How can I get involved? How can I do this?’”

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Cannaclub focuses on bridging the gap between innovation, entrepreneurship and the cannabis industry while encouraging engagement through social activities among members, Douglas said. Second-year art student Nat Vargas, the club’s social equity chair, said a misconception is that members solely engage in cannabis use. She said the club’s recent productive beach cleanup and social event that took place Nov. 10 is a counterexample, during which the club partnered with the Cookies Brentwood dispensary.

Douglas said the club has two general types of gatherings: social and educational. She added that the motivation behind the social events is to create a space for people to meet others with similar views on cannabis and its benefits. Recently, the club hosted two social events: a lighter decorating contest and a combined craft night and cannabis rolling contest. These events bring an interactive aspect of the cannabis space to the club that members can bond over, Douglas said.

Cannaclub also aims to provide educational opportunities, Douglas said. The club has heard from a wide range of guest speakers, from businessmen to industry experts to anyone with experience in the cannabis world, she added. Second-year biology student Jalen Segal, the club’s events coordinator, said Cannaclub’s recent guest speaker Desto Dubb – a rapper and co-partner of the tobacco leaf brand Loose Leaf – gave the club insight into the commercial side of cannabis.

Industry connections play a role in informing Cannaclub members about the safe use of cannabis and the truths around the plant, Segal said. He added that in understanding the pros and cons behind cannabis use, people may be more open to the broader use of cannabis, and it may become less stigmatized.

“We’re breaking up the stigma around cannabis and giving people a place, and we’re educating on the benefits … and the commercial side of cannabis,” Segal said. “We’re giving people a social place to interact with people that also enjoy cannabis like they do.”

Beyond community-building events, Cannaclub connects members with opportunities in the cannabis industry. Last November, Cannaclub hosted an on-campus cannabis convention – the country’s first ever. Douglas said CannaclubCon had around 1,000 guests and various brand representatives in attendance. In addition to students, Douglas said faculty, alumni and the Westwood community were also welcome to join.

Hosting events like CannaclubCon helps connect students with industry members seeking young talent to support their brands, Douglas said. In addition to its events, the club sends out a weekly newsletter. Vargas said this newsletter features job opportunities ranging from dispensaries to initiatives that help students apply for jobs in the cannabis industry.

In further promoting safe use on campus, Douglas said Cannaclub aims to reduce unsafe practices by collaborating with some of the biggest names in the cannabis industry, such as Raw Garden, Cookies, Alien Labs and THC Design. Brands send the club products to share with students as a method of promotion, Douglas said, and the club creates relationships with brands and can inform club members on which brands are safe, tested and reliable.

Alongside promoting safety, Cannaclub’s core value lies in the lack of judgment from other members, Douglas said. Additionally, Douglas said the club is tight-knit through its communal love of cannabis, adding that cannabis can be used to connect a lot of people. Vargas said the club events bring people together, and the club does not just meet once in a while, but rather almost weekly with varying events.

“More people want to join the club. … Our biggest thing for the club is to bring people together, and I think that that’s really what’s been working, and we see that,” Vargas said. “We’ve seen … the membership grow.”

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Future Cannaclub goals include destigmatizing the club and cannabis more generally for the UCLA population at large, while also expanding the club’s reach to bigger brands to further the relationship between brands and the student body, Douglas said. Additionally, Segal said the club is trying to expand the Cannaclub community in order to break up the stigma around cannabis, which can be started with a larger community.

“We are all very successful, hardworking UCLA students that put together these amazing events and like to consume cannabis while doing it,” Douglas said. “When people see our club, it’s like, ‘Wow, they’re putting a lot together.’”