In a decade and a half of practising law, I’ve never come across an industry changing and evolving as rapidly as Canada’s medical cannabis industry.  It’s fascinating, but it’s also time-consuming to stay abreast of everything that’s going on.  So in case you blinked recently, here’s a quick update on my ‘top ten’ list of current issues:

1. R. v. Smith – A momentous ruling delivered by the Supreme Court of Canada on June 11th confirmed theconstitutional right of medical cannabis patients to produce and possess derivative forms of cannabis.  However, the decision did not expressly require Health Canada to expand the scope of MMPR production licences to include derivatives.  Patients who didn’t want to make derivatives themselves were left to wonder how they would be able to legally obtain them.  Licensed producers (LPs), anxious for an opportunity to foray into the derivatives market, waited with bated breath until… 

2. Extracts – …less than a month later, on July 8th, Health Canada announced a number of ‘class exemptions’under s.56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances...