Kirk and Owen continued discussion moves into a more personal realm as they share their views of the current state of Medical Cannabis industry. Kirk sees a disconnect with federal verses provincial government system management whereas Owen wants more services for individuals needing cannabis as medicine. As he continues his advocacy of medical cannabis, Owen also speaks to current projects to help society be a better place to live. Tune into the second part of a conversion with Canada’s Godfather of Cannabis Two point Oh!

In this episode, Kirk learns how the law was on the side of righteousness when Owen Smith found himself in front of the Supreme Court of Canada defending a desire to help others. In the first part of a longer discussion, listeners gain insights to his six-year legal journey which ends with him becoming a medical cannabis industry advocate and influencer. His cannabis story started with family, but it was a faulty exhaust fan and loud music which moved the Victoria Police Department to deliver, “rock star treatment” during his arrest for creating cannabis edibles. He explains how a legal technicality brought him to the Supreme Court, while the Canadian court system actually supported his efforts creating cookies for medical cannabis patients.

Why not pick up your medicine on the way home from work? Buying your cannabis from a recreational store is certainly more convenient, especially when there is a store in pretty much every neighbourhood. In this episode, we learn the advantages of following the Health Canada Medical Cannabis pathway. Justyna Johnson is a Medical Cannabis Educator employed by The Clinic Network. The enthusiasm for her job comes from spending her workday helping people navigate the medical cannabis system. Unlike the recreational store budtenders, Justyna’s job is to address your medical questions and guide her patients through the paperwork, discussing the programs offered by License Producers. This is where there is a difference between medical and recreational cannabis systems. Justyna shares her knowledge and understanding, demonstrating how those who use cannabis as medicine will benefit by not using the recreational system to buy their medicine.

Tarris Baptiste was athletically gifted. Tarris was driven. Tarris was on the brink of breaking into the National Football League. And then, it didn’t happen. Ten thousand hours plus spent on becoming an elite football player didn’t matter anymore. Now what? Tarris had a shadow pursuit that paralleled his football career. Sometimes it helped him succeed. Sometimes it got in the way. But now, he shifted his considerable focus to learn more about cannabis. He needed to know the light and the dark of this plant. Tarris sought out experts. He merged their insights with his own lived experience. That was the genesis of his book, Don’t Let it Smoke You. Listen to Tarris talk about how cannabis got in his way, how he overcame his misuse of cannabis, but how he didn’t abandon the plant. Tarris found a way to balance his cannabis use with living a productive life. And now he wants to share that with you.

I bet you are on drugs right now! Don’t believe me? How long has it been since your last caffeinated beverage? Over 90% of us use caffeine daily. Most of us use alcohol at least weekly. Many of us use prescription medications to treat everything from ADHD to high blood pressure. Now thanks to cannabis legalization, more and more of us also use cannabis. If we use cannabis, it is likely that we are going to have cannabis and other drugs in our system at the same time. Are those combinations bad? Good? Unknown? Listen to Dr. Codi Peterson, pediatric pharmacist and cannabis science expert, walk us through what you need to know.

Pre-legalization, policing of Cannabis was disproportionally excessive and punitive to BIPOC and poor folk of Canada. While Cannabis is now legal, thousands are still saddled with cannabis convictions preventing them from employment opportunities, international travel, and or joining volunteer groups. Although federal legislation “Bill-93 - No-fee, Expedited Pardons for Simple Possession of Cannabis” has received royal assent, the complicated process of applying to have a criminal record removed remains prohibitive. In this episode, Aisha Abawajy explains how her organization, Cannabis Amnesty, is fighting for this community. When many people with a cannabis record hope to obtain a Pardon, Ms. Abawajy explains why Expungement should be the ultimate goal. During discussions with Trevor, Kirk reflects on how “white privilege” may have influenced his own past recreational cannabis use. 

On July 23, 1983 at an altitude of 41,000 feet, Air Canada Flight 143 travelling between Montreal and Edmonton ran out of fuel because of confusion between metric and imperial measurements. However, the crew of the Boeing 767 successfully landed the passenger jet in Manitoba’s Interlake in what is now known as the Gimli Glider. That intrepid flight crew applied their years of training and experience to an unprecedented situation to become heroes. Much like when a PhD with international training in biochemistry, genetics and pharmaceutical manufacturing successfully glides into the cannabis space. Meet Dr. Brent Guppy and BioScision Pharma. This wide-ranging conversation covers sexing plants, topicals with microbial contamination, testing cannabis for heavy metals and our new favorite word to try to say five times fast “nanoemulsions”. Did we mention BioScision’s retail line, Hwy 59 Cannabis, has a vape cart named after the famous unpowered Boeing 767 that landed in a certain Icelandic town?

What is the evidence? Where are the studies? There is no proof that cannabis can treat anything! Well…What if I told you there are lots of studies showing that cannabis has medical benefits? What if there was a study going on right now in Sarnia looking at Cannabis and Dementia in Long Term Care (LTC) homes? Dr. Blake Pearson and his partners in Lambton County are the epitome of “Think Global, Act Local”. They are tackling the pervasive problem of dementia in all LTC homes by seeing if cannabis can improve it in their local LTC system. Their study also measures if cannabis use in Dementia patients can help reduce Care Giver Burnout. This exciting research on the shores of Lake Huron is adding to the growing mountain of cannabis as medicine. We also take a left turn into “Green Washing”, but it is not what you think. Come have a listen.

We had a plan. Back in March 2020, Kirk and Trevor were going to host an event that served cannabis infused food in a restaurant in Dauphin. Then, the world shut down with the pandemic. As we're coming out of the pandemic, we thought we'd revive the plan, but the Manitoba Government gave us a hard no. Now we're talking to Nathan Mison, from Diplomat Consulting, for a brief history of cannabis legalization in Canada, what regulations are different in which provinces and maybe a way to resurrect our dream to throw a cannabis consumption event, properly.

Brent Alarie is informed he has COPD, then it was multiple sclerosis. No wait, he receives another diagnosis of blood cancer. These were just a few of the catastrophic verdicts given to describe how his body was betraying him. He needed to create change and prepare for his enviable death. With a new bucket list he started living his best life under the circumstances. A six-year painful journey, of the most insane symptoms and being bounced from one diagnosis to another, finally comes to an end. Brent is told he has chronic Lyme Disease. A new journey begins with learning to live with the on-going symptoms of Lyme and regular pharmaceuticals do not help with the chronic nerve-pain. He was never a drug-guy, but after a friend gave him Cannabis, he finds therapeutic relief. Brent shares how he now balances his life with nutrition and Cannabis. Kirk and Trevor bring their second story on how Cannabis brings relief to people suffering from this Monster sickness in which we call Lyme Disease.