We’ve seen a lot happen in the last year, from dispensary raids to the government’s promise to legalize recreational cannabis.
We can we expect even more in 2016, including the results of the Allard case, the continuation of cities’ dispensary licensing processes and more details on the Liberals’ plans to regulate.
Enjoy a collection of some of the stories you liked most in 2015, and thanks for your continued support in 2016.
1. The City of Vancouver revealed the addresses of several of the 11 dispensaries to be approved for a business license in early December. Since then a ninth was revealed.
2. Shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office, the Liberal leader sent a detailed mandate to his new cabinet, and one of those orders is to legalize cannabis. Since then the government has remained largely silent on the agenda item.
3. Canada Post confiscated a package of medical cannabis sent from a B.C. resident to his wife in Alberta.
4. After being raided by police, those arrested, like twenty-three-year-old Lane Britnell, at the Saskatchewan Compassion Club were left without medicine. The courts have since said they can order from dispensaries in B.C.
5. Dispensaries in Nanaimo were also ordered to shut down by police, with three of the shops eventually raided by the RCMP.
6. In this instalment of our weekly Cannabis in Canada LIVE Youtube show, host and founder of Cannabis in Canada Jason Wilcox is joined by constitutional lawyer John Conroy to discuss the ongoing battle against the Canadian government’s restrictions on medical cannabis.
7. Confronted by raided dispensary operator Mark Hauk, Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison was left speechless in this video.
8. This opinion piece from Caleb McMillan arguing that Justin Trudeau would “Screw Up Legalization” proved popular with readers ahead of the election.
9. In early September, the Canadian Revenue Agency announced that medical cannabis could be claimed as a valid tax expense.
10. A biopharmaceutical company’s announcement that they were developing medicines containing cannabinoids to treat conditions including diabetes, inflammatory diseases (like arthritis, atherosclerosis and ulcerative colitis) and cardiovascular disorders attracted attention in August.
11. In July, a motion to vary the injunction in the matter of Allard et al. v. HMTQ was dismissed by Justice Michael L. Phelan, disappointing many medial patients across the country.
12. We looked at the costs to you, the taxpayer, in the Allard case in this article from Caleb McMillan.