People and organisations that forced their way into ticketed sessions at the United in Compassion symposium have been told they should be ashamed of their conduct.
Reports surfaced that "a number of people and organisations" had entered the regulatory and compliance talks held on the Friday of the event without paying, leaving legitimate ticket holders without seats.
Event organisers noted that the UIC website had clearly stated that Friday sessions were priced separately from the weekend program.
The Australian Medicinal Cannabis Association (AMCA) addressed the offenders directly in a post on LinkedIn: "If you pushed your way into sessions (e.g. the regulatory and compliance session) that others had paid for, shame on you.
"It was very clear on the UIC ticketing page what the cost was for each training session and no, they did not come free with your tickets for the Saturday and Sunday sessions.
"You left people who had paid good money without seats."
Commenters responding to the LinkedIn post called for the names of those responsible to be made public.
The exact number of people who entered without paying remains unknown, though organisers confirmed that attendance at both the healthcare practitioner and regulatory compliance sessions was double what had been anticipated.
The overcrowding was severe enough that UIC's technical team was forced to quickly establish a live stream in a neighbouring hall to accommodate the overflow.
UIC co-founder Lucy Haslam, who is passing responsibility for organising the event to AMCA next year, said in an interview that the training sessions were deliberately separated from the main industry program, with a distinct ticket price, to ensure the appropriate people were present in the room.
