Cannabis Law in Canada

Ross Rebagliati, 52 Born 1971 North Vancouver BC Diving team 1978 Swim team High school 1985 Ski raced 5yrs (10-15) 1980-86 Started snowboarding 1987-88 Coached snowboard halfpipe camps for Craig Kelly 1988-91 BC amateur series 1988 - 1991 — Won everything haha — they tried to kick me off the tour by the end.. lol USA and Canadian amateur champion Snowboarding 1990 Lord Byng high school Grad 1990 Moved to Whistler 1990 - 2018 Cover of TransWold Snowboarding magazine 1991 World Cup debut Austria 1992 1st pro win Mt.Baker Banked Slalom 1992 European Champion 1994 US Open Champion 1994 Whistler World cup 1996 Multiple other world cup wins and podiums Gold medal Nagano winter Olympics Feb 8, 1998. Tested positive for THC Disqualified and reinstated within 3 days (First time any athlete was reinstated by the IOC) Was temporarily in a Japanese jail Jay Leno 2 days later Conan O'brian etc etc Became a public figure Roots sponsorship 1999- 2002 Retired from pro snowboarding 1999 Became a cannabis advocate 2000 - 2023 No fly list 2001 (re: 911) 22 yrs and counting…. Worked construction renos, framer, heavy equipment, flipped real estate etc. RossGold established 2012 RossGold glass 2012-2018 RossGold store 2015 - 2017 (prohibition) Various jobs growing in the grey market 2000 - 2018 Closed the RossGold company during legalization 2017-2023 Worked in various BC craft/micro facilities 2019-2022 Feb 8, 2023 RossGold cannabis products in Canadian stores. (25yrs to the day! Not planned — coincidence!) Currently living near Penticton, BC Married with 3 kids: 14, 11, and 8. They all ski and snowboard, but also individually play football, dance and play hockey. Founder/CEO RossGold Cannabis Documentary “Nagano till now” premiering at the 2023 Whistler Film Festival. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Ted Smith is a big Boy Scout. He is constantly helping others in need, and Ted has successfully advocated human rights for decades. Ted is the Founder of the the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, Canada's oldest compassion club, which opened in 1996. He has played a large role in the battle to legalize cannabis in Canada for the past three decades and continues his advocacy work today . Since moving to Victoria in 1995 to start the International Hempology 101 Society, Ted has been at the forefront of cannabis activism. He is the author of Hempology 101: The History and Uses of Cannabis Sativa, published in 2012, a history of cannabis text book full of rich references to our historic use of this important plant medicine. He was the publisher of the Cannabis Digest newspaper, Canada’s largest publication on the subject for almost 10 years. Ted was even featured in a cameo as himself in the movie Kid Cannabis. Ted has organized cannabis conventions across the country, coordinating or participating in approximately 4,000 rallies, meetings, press conferences and other events. Ted founded the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club in January of 1996 making it the oldest medical cannabis dispensary in Canada, now with over 8,500 members. After his employee Owen Smith was arrested baking cookies in 2009, he helped manage the case all the way to a unanimous 7-0 victory at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2015. The R. v. Smith case made cannabis edibles and concentrates legal for patients to consume, whereas before only smoked herb was considered legal medicine. Over the years, the VCBC and its facilities have been raided 8 times but have beaten every criminal charge in court using constitutional arguments. He took a few years away from the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club to care for his life time partner Gayle Quin, who was also a patient and a passionate cannabis activist. After she died of cancer in 2016, Ted created a tea company in her honour named Gayle’s Tea, which is only available for sale at the VCBC. Currently Ted is focused on getting the VCBC a temporary exemption from the Cannabis Act to provide high-dosage edibles to patients, medicines the club has provided long before legalization. After two raids by the Community Safety Unit, he and the club have been fined close to $6.5 million Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Owen Smith is a director of the non profit Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club ("VCBC"), one of the oldest compassion clubs in Canada, with over 8000 active members, which helps members who have documented, serious medical conditions, by providing them with medicinal cannabis and cannabis based products. Owen is a cannabis subject-matter expert, possessing a wide range of cannabis industry knowledge based on two decades of working with patients, advocates, dispensaries, non-profits, producers and processors as well as one of the worlds largest cannabis corporations. In 2009, Owen was arrested for baking cannabis and making extracts, edibles and oils for members of the VCBC, and consequently raised a constitutional challenge that the Supreme Court of Canada decided 7-0 in his favour in 2015. R v Smith is the most successful cannabis case in Canadian history, which legalized the process of cannabis extraction so that people and companies could make extracts, edibles and oils for medicinal use. Owen is also a storyteller, multi-media artist, videographer, writer, juggler and musician. During our interview, Owen's audio became garbled due to a streaming issue, so we salvaged some of the recording and then moved to a different recording platform. It's around the 20-minute mark. Thanks to Byron Wong for his help with correcting the audio problem! I think it actually made for a better interview. Have a listen and enjoy! Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Alison Myrden began her career as a Corrections Officer in 1988 after working with the Children's Aid Society. In addition to her website, you can find Alison at the following social media: Twitter -- LinkedIn -- Facebook -- During her career, Alison worked at troubled youth facilities around Southern Ontario and eventually solidified her niche with Young Offender cases in early 1989 at Community Resource Services. During her career, Alison was responsible for various duties including attending court, facility shifts and as court liaison for Cassatta Youth Custodial Facilities. One of her most challenging assignments included working with Psychiatric Young Offenders at a Secure Custody Facility. While working in the Youth Court Justice system, Alison noticed many Young Offenders were in trouble with the law for simple experimentation with illicit drugs. This seemed very wrong to her. Alison felt it would be better to educate these young people about drugs instead of punishing them. It seemed to her that our youth were being criminalized for no good reason. Around the same time, Alison was diagnosed with chronic progressive Multiple Sclerosis. She began experiencing Tic Doloureux (bilateral trigeminal neuralgia), an excruciating facial pain associated with MS. Soon after retiring in 1992, she was introduced to medicinal cannabis. She found immediate relief with cannabis without the harmful side effects of the other, more addictive medications. It was then that Alison became an activist for drug law reform. In 1995, Alison was prescribed cannabis for pain relief after her legal, doctor-supervised cocaine and heroin therapy, along with other prescription medications that proved to be insufficient. In 2000, Alison received a s.56 exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to possess and grow cannabis for medical purposes, but was frustrated at not having her own high-quality, cost-effective supply. In 2004, Alison began working with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), which was renamed Law Enforcement Action Partnership, where she was the first female speaker in Canada to represent LEAP U.S. until 2016, when she branched out on her own. For over 35 years, in over 1,000 interviews, Alison described the "War on Drugs" as a "War on People", calling for its end. While cannabis was legalized in Canada in 2018, Alison believes the government has not supported those people who need high quality doses of cannabis products at reasonable prices for medical purposes. In 2017, Alison became the first Authorized Pain Patient in the World for Medical Psilocybin for pain relief. She applied to Health Canada in 2019 for an exemption from the CDSA to grow her own mushrooms with a daily dose of 50 g. Last month, Healt Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Matthew Jerome is the Founder and Chief Consultant of Meristem Cannabis Consulting, a patient-focused education company, and is Canada's first fully certified Ganjier. Matt's goal within the industry is to provide confidence when it comes to quality related decisions, which he has over 15 years of experience doing. He has been a vocal medicinal cannabis advocate for over a decade and is a board of directors’ member of Educannation, a non-profit organization, as well as an advisory board member of the ‘Grow Up’ cannabis conference and Canadian Cannabis Championship, and an advocate of the Canadian Cannabis Tourism Alliance. Matt has been featured as a key-note speaker at several cannabis events and expos globally, and has been selected to professionally judge several cannabis, hash, and extract competitions worldwide. As a Ganjier he offers one-of-a-kind systematic cannabis flower and extract assessments in the industry and features the best of which he finds in Fat Nugs Magazine, where he works as a writer and contributor. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Matt is a partner at the Toronto law firm Torkin Manes. He is co-chair of the Cannabis Law Group and chair of the Franchise Law Group. He is also an accomplished trial and appellate lawyer in the Litigation Group with over a decade of experience advocating on behalf of his business clients. Matt provides business and regulatory advice to a wide range of cannabis industry stakeholders, including licensed producers, producer applicants, owners of businesses that provide ancillary services to the cannabis industry, entrepreneurs with start-up aspirations and foreign businesses who are looking to enter the Canadian market or enter into partnerships with established Canadian cannabis businesses. Matt has developed considerable knowledge and expertise under the Cannabis Act and its predecessor legislation, including the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. Matt prides himself on staying abreast of developing cannabis-related legislation at the federal, provincial and municipal levels across the entire country which allows him to service clients throughout Canada and internationally. He is frequently sought out by clients to assist in developing promotional strategies and navigating the complexities surrounding the promotional provisions of the Cannabis Act. Matt has acted for a number of American and international celebrities in advising them in their relationships with Canadian cannabis companies. Matt has helped clients obtain retail sales licenses across the entire country, including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland. Within his litigation practice, Matt acts for his business clients on a wide range of commercial disputes. He has had numerous successful attendances before the Court of Appeal for Ontario and regularly litigates his clients’ cases in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on trials, applications and motions. Matt has also successfully appeared before the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. Matt is a regular contributor to print and online media publications on issues pertaining to legal developments within the cannabis industry as well as corporate litigation. Matt is frequently sought out by Canadian media outlets to comment on issues pertaining to the cannabis industry and regularly speaks at industry conferences across the continent. Matt is also an editor of the Torkin Manes Cannabis Law Group blog. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Harrison Jordan is a Toronto-based cannabis and NFT lawyer who focuses on Canadian legal matters related to the regulated industries of cannabis, psychedelics, liquor, tobacco and gaming. See https://harrisonjordanlaw.com/ for more information. Harrison graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School and completed his articles with Paul Lewin and then opened his law practice in 2018. Harrison also practices law related to NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and you can find him online as The NFT Lawyer: https://thenftlawyer.ca/ We talk about Harrison's beginnings as a cannabis lawyer, gaps in the retail cannabis legislation in Ontario, his activism, the medical/adult-use divide and the shortcomings of legalization. I hope you enjoy our conversation. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://cannabislaw.ca/pages/russell-bennett-podcast If you're looking for a good text book on Canadian cannabis law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. If you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Ruth Chun is a corporate commercial lawyer focused on providing legal advice to various companies from start-up to exit. Ms. Chun acted as general counsel for cannabis company Newstrike Brands Ltd., raising over $150 million in financing, from the RTO transaction with Up Cannabis Inc. and sale to HEXO Corp. for $263 million. She continues to act for highly regulated industries including psychedelics and renewable energy transactions. Ms. Chun is a sought-after speaker and is regularly called upon as a conference presenter and lecturer at several universities. She is an independent director and chair of the board of directors of Entheon Biomedical Corp. (CSE: ENBI), Healing Maps and is on the Advisory Board for the Osgoode Certificate in Cannabis Law & Regulations. She also chairs the board of directors for the non-profit organization Sexual Assault and Violence Information Services of Halton and is a director of Milton Baptist Church. She is a past chairman of Rio Tinto’s pension fund for Rössing Uranium Mine and past trustee of the Alexander Forbes group of funds. In 2019 she was a finalist for the Canadian General Counsel Awards. Ms. Chun received an Honours BA (Trinity College) and MA from the University of Toronto and Juris Doctor from Queens University, and is admitted to legal practice in Ontario, New York and Namibia. Ms. Chun is also a contributing editor to the legal textbook Canada's Cannabis Act: Annotation & Commentary, for the forthcoming 4th edition, 2022-2023. I hope you enjoy our conversation. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://cannabislaw.ca/pages/russell-bennett-podcast If you're looking for a good text book on Canadian cannabis law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. If you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Robert W.E. Laurie founded Ad Lucem Law Corporation in 2013. Robert is an international lawyer qualified in England and called to the British Columbia Bar. Robert’s legal practice focuses on commercial business, government, regulatory issues, plus charter and constitutional legalities surrounding cannabis and psychedelic plant medicines. Robert has eighteen years of policy development and legal practice in corporate, commercial, and administrative law, plus licensing, regulatory, and constitutional charter experience concerning medical access to cannabis and psilocybin. As a lawyer in Canada, Robert works to reform drug laws. As a consultant, he devises regulatory, government policy, and business solutions for companies operating globally in the regulated food, cannabis, and psychedelic industries. Robert is Special Advisor to Gateway Proven Strategies (GPS Global), a Denver-based cannabis management consultancy firm operating globally. Robert serves as a board advisor to MAPS Canada, the Last Prisoner Project, and SPORE Denver. In addition, he is a legal advisor to the Heroic Hearts Project, a founder of the McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy, and a director of the Ecuador Amazon Restoration Project. Robert has been working and advocating tirelessly as a lawyer to improve medical patient access to cannabis, psychedelics, and sacred plant medicines and facilitate drug laws to better society. Robert advised Dr. Bruce Tobin and the TheraPsil Alliance litigation team (first Section 56 CDSA medical exemption for psilocybin in Canada). He was one of the Decriminalize Nature Canada Petition drafters, part of a national campaign to decriminalize restricted plant medicines and fungi in Canada. His goal is to help provide more options for doctors and treatments for anxiety, depression, addiction, and PTSD. Robert is an acclaimed international speaker, presenting at conferences and events on the laws surrounding cannabis, psychedelic, and entheogenic medicines in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. I hope you enjoy our conversation. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://cannabislaw.ca/pages/russell-bennett-podcast If you're looking for a good text book on Canadian cannabis law, read Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Keachea Dixon is an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of New York, the Province of Ontario, and the island of Jamaica. Keachea’s law practice focuses on helping entrepreneurs and small businesses with various issues in Commercial law, Cannabis law, Entertainment law, Real Estate law, Wills & Estates law, Intellectual Property law, and Technology Law. Keachea is a co-founder and Vice President of International Business Affairs for Cannabiziac, a global member-based company helping new and existing businesses and professionals with education, training, networking events, mentorship, and advocacy in the global cannabis industry. She also teaches for Cannabiziac’s Builder Incubator Program about the international cannabis market including topics like prohibition, decriminalization, plant touching, ancillary operations, and global trends. Keachea is an active speaker, delivering valuable information at conferences around the world from Perth, Australia to San Juan, Puerto Rico to Toronto, Canada. Keachea is admitted to the Federal Courts of the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, has a Master of Law Degree in Intellectual Property, Technology & Commerce from University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly known as Franklin Pierce Law Centre), is a certified mediator in the area of IP, Technology & Commerce, and was a NGO representative at the United Nations Department of Public Information. Focusing on International Development, Keachea was a partner at Gordon Dixon & Company, and was in-house counsel for Dilieu Technology LLC, an IT solutions company. Keachea has counselled startup companies in the following industries: cannabis, fashion, film, music, marketing, publishing and technology. Ms. Dixon’s professional motto is “transforming lives one client at a time through the strategic use of justice”. I hope you enjoy our conversation. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://cannabislaw.ca/pages/russell-bennett-podcast If you're looking for a good text book on Canadian cannabis law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. If you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca Last, please sign Russell's petition for automatic cannabis expungements. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Generally speaking, David Brown writes about cannabis policy and industry stuff and lives in British Columbia. He likes plants. And his beard. More specifically, David Brown is a cannabis policy analyst, regulatory affairs specialist and content manager with Stratcann.com, a Canadian cannabis industry news and information publication. David has worked in the cannabis industry for 10 years, first as a co-founder of LIFT Cannabis, which was a former news site for the medical cannabis industry. After a few years building LIFT, David joined Health Canada in the lead up to legalization with the regulation team working on writing the regulations that became law on October 17, 2018. David then worked on the 2.0 Cannabis Regulations, and eventually moved to Health Canada’s stakeholder engagement team doing outreach to provinces and municipalities, and in BC to First Nations, RCMP and schools about legalization. David left Health Canada in 2020 to form Stratcann to write stories about cannabis and the industry. I hope you enjoy our conversation. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://cannabislaw.ca/pages/russell-bennett-podcast If you're looking for a good text book on Canadian cannabis law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. If you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca Last, please sign Russell's petition for automatic cannabis expungements. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Nathaniel B. Erskine-Smith, MP ("Nate") is a Canadian politician and member of the Liberal Party, he is a Member of Parliament, representing Beaches-East York. Nate became the youngest MP to be elected in the Greater Toronto Area on October 19, 2015, after a successful grassroots open nomination in December 2014. He successfully retained his seat both in the 2019 federal election and in the 2021 federal election. Prior to entering politics, Nate was a lawyer at a Toronto commercial litigation firm, and volunteered to do legal work for a range of clients and causes, which included fighting public interest matters in court, and research for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Nate hosts a weekly podcast series, Uncommons: Canadian Politics with Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, in which he seeks out experts from his work and travels in Ottawa and Toronto to discuss on topics in the news and general matters of interest to the public. Nate is the co-chair of the federal government's All-Party Cannabis Caucus, and has introduced Private Member Bills regarding the decriminalization of all illicit drugs, including the former Bill C-22, which created an evidence-based diversion framework to ensure that police and prosecutors only proceed with criminal charges if it is inadequate to issue a warning or to refer individuals in need to health care services, which came out of his views that problematic substance use should be treated as a health issue, not a criminal justice one. In 2019, Nate seconded a bill introduced by NDP MP Murray Rankin for national cannabis record expungement, writing an op-ed for NOW Magazine to discuss his support for MP Rankin's bill, stating that only expungements would address the injustice of cannabis criminalization. We talk about his efforts in this recording. I hope you enjoy! For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, head to cannabislaw.ca. For the latest on Canadian cannabis law, buy and read Canada's Cannabis Act. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Elizabeth Dipchand and Dan Pollack practise IP, corporate law and litigation at Dipchand LLP, a boutique law firm in Toronto. Elizabeth is the type of person who is driven to find intelligent solutions to problems that are not readily evident to others. As such, she regularly advises corporations on in-depth identification, acquisition, maintenance, management & leveraging and protection & enforcement of intellectual property and intangible assets. She enjoys speaking about these dynamic issues both publicly and privately, and now, on our podcast! In her litigation practice, Elizabeth represents clients in a variety of industries including, cannabis, pharma, SAS, wireless communications and mining with a variety of issues including misleading advertising, grey-goods/anti-counterfeit, and commercial litigation matters related to IP and intangible assets. Her solicitor practice features licensing, contract, and transactions, where she develops long-term legal strategies to leverage SMEs and larger corporations’ intellectual capital to assist in their growth. Clients regularly rely on her to coordinate their intellectual capital management and enforcement strategies worldwide. Elizabeth sits on the Board of Directors for the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, and is a founding member of The Big Push, a women driven collective accelerating women-founded start-ups. She sits on the Board of Directors of G(irls)20, an organization dedicated to the advancement through leadership of girls and women globally, and for years has had the privilege of serving as a judge for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards, Women of Influence’s premier national awards program. As well, Elizabeth sits on the Board of Directors for the Shaw Festival Theater, promoting the theatre's strong tradition of rebellious rabble rousing. Dan focuses his practice on one primary objective: to help creators and start-ups share their work with the world. His deep understanding of the complex legal issues that creatives and start-ups confront stems from 15+ years of cross-border experience at leading Canadian and US law firms, his own private practice, acting as General Counsel for an international image licensing agency, and as Legal Counsel for the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. Dan works with creators and creative agencies to protect and maximize their work value. Additionally, Dan serves as legal counsel for the two leading associations of professional image creators in Canada. Dan advises both emerging and established clients on various issues in his extensive private practice, including copyright acquisition, enforcement, litigation strategy, contracts, licensing agreements, and releases. He also regularly advises his clients on legal issues relating to marketing, social media, litigation, privacy, and corporate law. In addition to creatives, Dan al Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Stan Benda, Ph.D. is known as The Plant Lawyer. We had a fruitful conversation that you may find very sweet. Stan practices law specializing in contracts concerning technology transfer / licensing with expertise in advanced technologies, especially agricultural biotechnology; novel foods (aka genetically modified); new plant varieties; plant breeders rights; stone fruits and in propagation, genetics, and licensing of cannabis. He also writes a blog, posting on legal issues concerning field crops, breeding, GM, regulation, new plant/crop varieties and food safety. Twitter. Stan also advises agricultural lawyers for whom this is not their area of expertise, so they can ensure they maintain their client base and loyalty. I hope you enjoy this candid conversation. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, head to cannabislaw.ca. For the latest on Canadian cannabis law, buy Canada's Cannabis Act. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Paul Lewin and Jack Lloyd are Toronto lawyers and activists who practise in cannabis and psychedelics law at their firm, Cannabis and Psychedelics Law Group LLP. What a great conversation! Paul has represented clients across Canada for over 27 years, practising with Lewin & Sagara LLP, fighting for clients at all levels of the Ontario Courts, including the religious use of cannabis, challenging the medical cannabis doctor-as-gatekeeper rules, the constitutionality of the limited cannabis strain choice, the cannabis extraction rules, and the cannabis grower privacy laws, which ended privacy breaches by police of cannabis growers. From 2011 to 2020, Paul was on the Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada (NORML Canada) advocating for cannabis reform and lobbying politicians at all levels of government. Paul has spoken at cannabis events, moderated cannabis policy discussions and he has been interviewed dozens of times in the media on cannabis policy. Paul also advises doctors, lawyers, politicians and the police on cannabis laws and regulations, and the emerging psychedelic industry. Jack practices criminal and constitutional litigation relating to medical cannabis regulation at all levels of court in Ontario and British Columbia, and the Supreme Court of Canada. He also performs consultancy work relating to the cannabis industry and the emergent issues surrounding psilocybin for medical purposes all across Canada, excluding Quebec. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Jack was the editor at Green Candy Press, the world’s largest publisher of books about the cannabis plant and psilocybin mushrooms. He continues to edit select titles for Green Candy Press, including an update to The Cannabis Breeder’s Bible, The Ganja Kitchen Revolution and Marijuana Chef Cookbook as well as the Psilocybin Chef Cookbook. In 2016, Jack edited The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms, which was the first book on psilocybin mushroom cultivation released in over a decade. Jack is currently the President of NORML Canada, where he advocates for sensible regulations concerning cannabis in Canada. In this i Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Henria Stephens is our incredible Student at Law at Cannabis Law, Barristers & Solicitors. Prior to law school, Henria worked in the Agriculture, Healthcare and International Development Sectors for nearly 20 years over three continents. She has worked in small grassroots organizations and large multinational corporations. She is a champion of justice and fairness and returned to law school to hone her advocacy skills. Before joining Cannabis Law, Henria volunteered at a social justice focused sole practitioner’s law firm, whose practice areas included Civil Litigation, Human Rights and Labour & Employment. She also attended The Michener Institute, and successfully completed Health Professional’s Introduction to Cannabis to better understand the medicinal and therapeutic uses of Cannabis. Henria also articles jointly with Lewin & Sagara, showing incredible commitment to the cannabis legal industry and her teammates. When not learning more about cannabis and psychedelics, Henria enjoys genuine connections, memorable meals and marvelling at the universe. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Tamar Friedman is a Toronto-based lawyer practicing in the areas of cannabis defence, police and State accountability, and civil litigation. This includes Charter litigation, public interest litigation, human rights law, and regulatory defence. Tamar received her licence to practise law in Ontario, Canada in 2016. She practiced as a civil litigator on behalf of the Province of Ontario from 2016-2018 where she specialized in human rights law, OPP defence, personal injury, and corporate/commercial litigation. Since 2018, Tamar has assisted self-represented litigants through her access to justice law practice, lawcoaching.ca. She also works with Charney Law, helping clients by holding police and the Crown accountable. Tamar is also the research editor for our book, Canada's Cannabis Act: Annotation & Commentary, 2021-2022 edition. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Pete Young is a master grower from the old school. Originally from Long Island, New York, Pete began his journey as a cannabis grower at the age of 15 with a few plants on the rooftop of his friend's apartment to avoid having to buy cannabis from the street. When he moved to London, Ontario to study photography, he developed his talent for growing weed and provided seeds to Chris Clay's store in London, Ontario at the Great Canadian Hemporium. After Chris was arrested, he and his team changed the store's name to Hemp Nation, where Pete earned the title of Minister of Agriculture. After Chris Clay’s trial, Pete took over the store and rebranded it as the Organic Traveler with the slogan "There’s no need to panic, it’s organic!" Pete also founded the London Compassion Society, dedicated to providing high quality cannabis as medicine to people at reduced rates. On the road to legalization, Pete became a master grower with Indiva, a Licensed Producer in Canada. On Legalization Day (October 17, 2018), Pete and Chris rang the bell opening the stock exchange. You can pick up a copy of Pete's autobiography, The High Road: A Pot Grower's Journey from the Black Market to the Stock Market on Amazon. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Pete, one of the original growers who has tremendous respect for the plant. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Chris Clay is ahead by a century. I use the song title from the Tragically Hip on purpose. In the early 1990s, university student Chris Clay had a vision: cannabis must be legal. Chris wasn't alone, obviously. But his plan to achieve his vision was unparalleled: Chris opened Canada's first Hemp Store. Initially a booth at a London, Ontario flea market, Chris moved his table of hemp products and information, with the help of a government grant, to a London storefront that Chris called the Great Canadian Hemporium. Eventually, he changed the name to Hemp Nation. With a team of other 20-somethings, including Pete Young (who is the next featured CLIC podcast interviewee!) Chris sold hemp clothing, hemp personal hygiene products and hemp seeds. But Chris wanted to do something else: he wanted to help people grow their own. Influenced by Alexander Sumach and others, Chris began selling cannabis seeds, and did so for two years, never once attracting law enforcement attention. Until he did. After two raids by London Police, the second of which was for selling plant cuttings, and charges that could have given Chris four life sentences, Chris formally launched a constitutional challenge against the Narcotic Control Act (which became the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act during his case). Law Professor Alan Young (who was our first CLIC podcast interview) and criminal lawyer Paul Burstein (who is now The Honourable Justice Burstein) assembled a giant roster of expert witnesses to testify as to the harmless effects of cannabis and to dispel all the myths associated with cannabis. This myth-busting team went all the way to the Supreme Court (please see the case here: R. v. Clay, 2003 SCC 75 (CanLII), [2003] 3 SCR 735). Incidentally, Chris's case is explained in detail in the Preface to my book, Canada's Cannabis Act: Annotation and Commentary. Chris' case laid the scientific foundation for why cannabis must be legal, and gave our elected officials the comfort against the myths and racist rhetoric. Chris, Alan and Paul deserve the Order of Canada for lifting Canada out of the dark ages of an unnecessary and very harmful prohibition. On the day of legalization, Chris rang the bell opening the stock exchange. And post-legalization, Chris brought Hemp Nation back to life as Hemp Nation Outfitters, now a store on Vancouver Island. Check it out! I hope you enjoy listening to this interview as much as I did recording it. Engineering of this podcast was done by Jeremy Benning. Music was created and performed by Albert Wong. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca

Alan Young is the best. I am proud to have the Cannabis Law in Canada Podcast kick-off with a great interview with Professor Emeritus Alan Young, a retired law professor and lawyer. I met Alan when shooting my documentary, STONED: Hemp Nation on Trial in 1996-1997. He allowed me and my cinematographer, Jeremy Benning, access to the defence strategy room, defence witnesses and provided several engaging interviews with me. He is still as smart, funny and insightful as ever. Alan received his BA from York University, his LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School, and his LLM from Harvard University prior to be called to the bar of Ontario. Alan taught criminal law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University for over 30 years, while simultaneously challenging the state's authority to criminalize consensual activity, which included constitutional challenges to Canada's gambling, obscenity, bawdy-house and drug laws. For nearly two decades, Alan provided free legal services to those whose alternative lifestyles brought them into conflict with the law. He represented countless numbers of people suffering from AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis who were charged after using marijuana for medicinal purposes, and as a result of these cases, the Federal Government was compelled to create a regulatory program authorizing the use of medical cannabis. Alan was also responsible for an early constitutional challenge to the possession of marijuana offence (R v. Clay, [2002] SCJ No 88 (SCC)), which fundamentally changed the public’s perception of the harms associated with cannabis use. I was fortunate enough to film the story of this case and present it to Canada with a premier of STONED on CBC Newsworld and following on City-tv in 1998. Canadian Lawyer magazine recognized the contributions Professor Young has made to the law and named him one of the “Top 25 Most Influential” in the justice system and legal profession in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014. He is the author of Justice Defiled: Perverts, Potheads, Serial Killers and Lawyers and a playwright. My conversation with Alan was so much fun and enlightening. I hope you enjoy Alan as much as I do. Engineering of this podcast is by Jeremy Benning. Music was created and performed by Albert Wong. Thanks to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor. And thanks to Albert Wong, who created and performed the music. For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/ If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act. And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca