June Luncheon Speakers
June 3, 2022, Alan Mehta, Chief Information Officer for the City of Philadelphia Division of Aviation, which owns and operates Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Philadelphia Airport. He oversees all IT network infrastructure and operations, including network security, telecoms, wireless, data centers, disaster recovery, on-prem and cloud environment, CCTV, access control, software and website development as well as the airport IT innovation team. He is focused on modernizing airport technology. Pre-COVID, the airport was a busy place, accommodating 33M passengers in 2019. But with COVID, the terminals were essentially empty from March 2020 through 2021. But recovery is underway, and they are rethinking 20 years of routine processes. There have been 19M passengers within the last 12 months. Not all routes are back, but there are now 91 nonstop national destinations and 33 nonstop international destinations. Changes of note include: purchased parking garages from the Philadelphia Parking Authority and they now own all parking facilities at the airport; installed automated parking gates with credit card processing; implementing a Virtual Information Desk for check-in, whereby a passenger will touch a screen and be connected live to an agent, and by scanning a QR code will be able to walk around the terminal while still talking live with the agent on their cell phone; providing online queue management, whereby wait times for TSA General and TSA Pre-Check are available; implemented 24×7 robotic floor cleaning in the terminals, which alleviates some staffing shortages; recognizing and displaying the work of local artists; redeveloping airside facilities, in particular cargo handling and storage;. There were 22 in attendance.
June 10, 2022. Tina Brunetti, a clinical pharmacist, also working for Organic Remedies and Verano, discussed the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program (MMP). The Pennsylvania Department of Health is in the process of implementing the state’s MMP, signed into law on April 17, 2016. When fully implemented, the MMP will provide access to medical marijuana for patients with a serious medical condition through a safe and effective method of delivery that balances patient need for access to the latest treatments with patient care and safety. Examples of medical conditions include ALS, anxiety, autism, cancer, glaucoma, and Alzheimer’s. It may take several months to reach maximum effect (i.e., does not work overnight). It is not cheap. Access is tightly controlled. Eighteen states support marijuana for medical use only (including PA); 21 states also support recreational marijuana use (not PA). There are two strains of cannabis: Indicia (originated from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Indian mountains), which is intoxicating; and Salvina (evolved close to the equator in northern Africa and southern Asia)., which is uplifting and energizing. Most strains now blend the two as a hybrid. Cannabinoids, of which there are many, are the compounds in marijuana that cause its effects. THC and CBD are the most abundant. Medical marijuana use doesn’t mean the individual gets high. Patients feel better through improved sleep, or reduced pain, anxiety, depression, and nausea. Beware….70% of so-called CBD products on the market have 0% CBD. Cannabis products came in many forms: sprays, cartridges (vaping), concentrate, tincture (oral), capsules (oral), and topicals. There were 22 in attendance.
