Day 2: The New Cannabis Landscape 2018


Course Date: June 8, 2018

Total: 6h 1min

Welcome and Introduction 

John W. Conroy, QC — Conroy & Company, Abbotsford 

Cannabis as Medicine

The Law From the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to the Cannabis Act—A Brief Overview 

  • The Narcotic Control Act regulations and Compassion and Buyers Clubs in the courts — from Parker to Smith and Allard

John W. Conroy, QC — Conroy & Company, Abbotsford 

Cannabis and Health Law 

  • background: current regulation of cannabis — the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Food and Drugs Act 
    • licensing
    • allowable product forms
  • proposed regulation of health products containing cannabis
    • proposed product forms — drugs, natural health products, medical devices, cosmetics and edibles
  • the future of the medical cannabis regime
    • continuation of the ACMPR
    • medical insurance coverage

via video link
Sara Zborovski — Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Toronto

Marijuana for Medical Purposes: Weeding Through the Evidence 

  • Cannabinoid Neurochemistry
  • adverse health risks
  • the literature on medical cannabinoids
  • CFPC guidelines for "prescribing" dried cannabis

Dr. Launette Rieb — Clinical Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of BC, Vancouver 

Break

Cannabis and Impairment

An Overview Of the Drug-Impaired Driving Provisions of Bill C-46  

  • this presentation will provide an overview of the proposed changes to the drug-impaired driving regime in Bill C-46, an Act to amend the Criminal Code (offences relating to conveyances) and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
  • it will focus on the elements relating to approved drug screening equipment, the proposed blood drug concentration offences, including the underlying scientific foundation for these elements
  • the presentation will also reference a number of elements with respect to the proposed changes to alcohol-impaired driving

via video link
Joanna K. Wells — Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice, Ottawa 
Greg Yost — Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice, Ottawa 

Consumption and Workplace Issues 

  • employer's duty to accommodate — medical marijuana and employees with addiction
  • designing workplace drug and alcohol policies — balancing risk, privacy, and the duty to accommodate
  • asesssing impairment—challenges for employers, challenges for employees
  • employee benefit plans—is exclusion of medical marijuana discriminatory?

Carolyn M. MacEachern — Young Anderson, Vancouver
Laura Track — Community Legal Assistance Society, Vancouver 

Lunch (on your own)

CannaBusiness Regulation

The Regulated Cannabis Industry: Serving a New Fixture of the Economy

David Wood — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Calgary 

Cannabis and Insurance Issues 

  • insurance issues generally facing the cannabis industry, including medical marijuana coverage or the lack thereof
  • insurance issues involving residences, businesses, etc. in terms of patient production and LP insurance issues and current trends
  • insurance issues now arising pending legalization or in anticipation thereof that need to be considered by the insurance industry

Scott Wilkins — MMIP Director, LMG Insurance Brokers Ltd., Duncan 

Break

Cross Border Issues Part 1: The Canadian Perspective 

  • issues under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 
    • criminality and organized criminality
    • possession, production, and trafficking
    • impaired driving and related offences
  • cross border issues with cannabis under the Customs Act 

Peter Edelmann — Edelmann and Company, Vancouver

Cross Border Issues Part 2: The US Perspective 

  • Canadian companies doing business in the US
  • admissions at the US border to smoking marijuana
  • what the Canadian government hasn't warned you about the cannabis border issues

Len Saunders — The Immigration Law Firm PLLC, Blaine, WA 

Closing Remarks 

John W. Conroy, QC — Conroy & Company, Abbotsford