By Ted Smith (editors note: Health Canada has since made a response to the Smith ruling, read about it HERE) Cries of relief and outrage could be heard across Canada early in the morning, last June 11. Tears of joy streamed down many faces as news spread about another blow to cannabis prohibition, though not […]
Legal
Press Release: Health Canada’s Half-baked Response to Smith
For Immediate Release Weds July 8, 2015 Victoria, B.C.: Less than one month after the Supreme Court of Canada handed down the Owen Smith decision, Health Canada has announced they are starting to issue Licensed Producers an Exemption #56 from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to allow them to produce and sell cannabis extracts, […]
Health Canada Fails Patients
By Beth Cormier After reading this Globe and Mail op-ed, it is clear to me that this journalist has not done their medical cannabis history homework. The Harper Government did not make the initial decision that medicinal cannabis users could only smoke cannabis; rather they have upheld the status quo. The Harper government has continually […]
Edibles Medibles: A Trek through a Political Labyrinth
By Judith Stamps Edibles Medibles: A Trek through a Political Labyrinth It’s been an unbalanced, multi-polar week in Canadian Cannabis history. On Thursday June 11, the Supreme Court of Canada published the last word on the status of edible cannabis meds in Canada: legal, effective immediately. Up until then, the rule had been smoking or […]
Will Owen Smith Change The Law On June 11?
For Immediate Release Mon June 8, 2015 Victoria, B.C.: On Thurs June 11, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada will hand down its decision in the trial of Owen Smith, former head baker for the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club. This is the first time the highest court in the land has ruled on a medical […]
The Extract Trial: Issue of Standing
(Title image: Vancouver Sun) (This is part of a series of blogs by Owen Smith on the Medical Cannabis Extract Trial) On a cold December morning, 4 years after my arrest, I attended the BC Court of Appeal to witness the oral arguments of the two crown prosecutors and my lawyer, Kirk Tousaw, in front […]
The Extract Trial: Kirk Tousaw
By Owen Smith Kirk Tousaw is one of Canada’s top Cannabis lawyers. Born in the state of Michigan, Kirk has been an advocate for cannabis legalization since high school. He obtained a degree in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy before moving to Vancouver in 2002. There he completed his Masters thesis on the “Malmo-Levine case” […]
Why Does Vancouver City Council Want to Ban Edibles?
The recent announcement by the city of Vancouver to regulate medical cannabis dispensaries is causing a stir on all sides. The federal government immediately denounced the decision, Rona Ambrose repeating that dispensaries are not part of the legal Medical Marihuana regulations (MMPR). Licensed producers have spoken to the value of their service as superseding the […]
Will Victoria Close or License Cannabis Dispensaries?
By Ted Smith Under pressure from a new wave of cannabis dispensaries, Victoria City council will decide Thursday whether to shut them down, regulate them or simply do nothing and hope the situation will somehow take care of itself. Last Tuesday in Vancouver, city council voted in favour of opening a public hearing into a […]
Gardens Vs. Factories
(Image By Mark Lehtimaki) Patients Fight to Keep Control of their Health, Plants and Cookies “My doctors told me I’d never walk again, never talk again. Marijuana is the difference maker,” Davey said. For the first time ever, a judge has heard arguments in the Federal Court of Canada between patients and the government on […]