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In this educational episode of the Legacies Podcast, hosts Tom Ritchie and Wesley Bowles discuss the upcoming CannExec Summit, review Skate Smoke swag from Brad, and debate the controversial practice of LPs repackaging older inventory. They analyze California Governor Gavin Newsom’s emergency ban on hemp-derived THC products and its threat to CBD retailers and patients. The hosts welcome two Canadian cannabis legends: Dr. Ira Price, an emergency physician and Canadian medical cannabis pioneer, and Kirk Tousaw, renowned cannabis lawyer and CEO of Great Gardener Farms. Dr. Price shares his journey from high school learning difficulties to becoming one of the first doctors in Ontario to recommend medical cannabis, alongside founding The Lovely Human Collective. Kirk Tousaw discusses defending micro-growers, litigating landmark constitutional cases like *Conroy v. Allard* and *R. v. Smith*, and co-founding Great Gardener Farms to preserve legendary genetics like Barbara Bud.
Tom Ritchie Says: Hey, what’s going on, everyone? Check out what’s coming up this week on Legacies.
Dr. Ira Price Says: My grade 11 English teacher looked at me in the ER and went: ‘Holy shit, you’re a doctor?!’
Kirk Tousaw Says: In the Smith trial, when the Crown prosecutor admitted that tea became an illegal extract the exact moment the patient removed the tea strainer, the judge put his face in his hands. In that moment, I knew we had won the case.
Tom Ritchie Says: Remember the early LP days when everyone built massive vaults? It was like MTV Cribs: ‘Look at my giant vault!’
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome to Legacies! I’m your host, Tom Ritchie, joined by Wesley ‘The Wizard’ Bowles. Wes, how are you doing?
Wesley Bowles Says: Good morning, Tom! We’ve got a massive double-header episode today.
Tom Ritchie Says: First, a reminder that Legacies is powered by Breadstack. Retailers, the results speak for themselves—upgrade your e-commerce and local search today.
Tom Ritchie Says: We got a message from Rao at Breadstack joking about our intro delivery. It reminded me of the classic Seinfeld episode where Kramer accidentally becomes the voice of Moviefone: ‘Why don’t you just tell me the name of the movie you’d like to see?’
Tom Ritchie Says: Time is flying—September completely disappeared, and the CANEXEC Summit is next week in Toronto!
Wesley Bowles Says: The speaker lineup and executive panel topics look incredible.
Tom Ritchie Says: I tried booking hotel rooms and everything was sold out. We’re staying at the Westin Harbour Castle. I love their signature White Tea scent in the lobby and those heavenly beds. When you’re traveling constantly, consistency matters.
Tom Ritchie Says: Shoutout to our buddy Brad over at Skate Smoke! He sent over a care package with hats, embroidered tees, and pre-roll cones. Brad creates hilarious grassroots content on Instagram—definitely check out Skate Smoke.
Tom Ritchie Says: Omar from 1Spliff called me fired up about retail data fees and another critical issue facing the market: licensed producers repackaging old flower.
Tom Ritchie Says: When unsold inventory sits in provincial warehouses or gets sent back via Return to Vendor (RTV), some LPs break open the bags, re-tumble or blend the flower, and slap a brand-new ‘packaged on’ date on the pouch.
Tom Ritchie Says: While Health Canada regulations technically permit changing the packaging date upon repackaging, it destroys consumer trust. Terpenes oxidize, cannabinoids degrade, and the flower turns dry and harsh. If an LP includes a transparent harvest date alongside the packaging date, it shows they stand behind their cultivation quality.
Wesley Bowles Says: Including both harvest and packaging dates gives consumers honest transparency.
Wesley Bowles Says: Did you see the news out of California? Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency order immediately halting all sales of hemp-derived cannabinoid products with any detectable THC above 0.3%.
Tom Ritchie Says: Jonathan Miller from the U.S. Hemp Roundtable noted that this sudden ban could eliminate 90% to 95% of California hemp businesses and cut off patients who rely on non-intoxicating full-spectrum CBD. Sweeping executive bans hurt legitimate businesses instead of creating sensible regulatory frameworks.
Tom Ritchie Says: Today we have two true industry titans joining us: emergency physician and medical cannabis pioneer Dr. Ira Price, followed by legendary constitutional cannabis litigator Kirk Tousaw!
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome to Legacies, Ira! It’s fantastic to have you on.
Dr. Ira Price Says: Awesome to be here, Tom! It feels great to reconnect.
Tom Ritchie Says: You have one of the most inspiring journeys in Canadian medicine. You weren’t a traditional straight-A student growing up, were you?
Dr. Ira Price Says: Not at all! It took me seven years to get out of high school across five or six different schools. Teachers told my parents I was going nowhere.
Dr. Ira Price Says: Years later, during my emergency medicine residency at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, I was treating an older patient in the ER. He looked at me, stunned, and said: ‘Ira?! I was your grade 11 English teacher! Holy shit, you’re a doctor?!’ That was an incredible full-circle moment.
Dr. Ira Price Says: When I was young, my mother bought me a book about hockey legend Maurice ‘The Rocket’ Richard titled Tenacity. That word defined my life.
Dr. Ira Price Says: When I finally got into McMaster for medical school, I didn’t have natural photographic recall. For every hour of lecture, I studied two hours in isolation, building memory palaces, mnemonics, and visual systems. Once I was diagnosed with ADHD and received proper support, my academic focus exploded.
Tom Ritchie Says: How did you transition from standard emergency medicine into medical cannabis authorization?
Dr. Ira Price Says: In 2009 and 2010, the opioid epidemic was escalating. Purdue Pharma was pushing OxyContin and OxyNEO. In the ER, I constantly saw patients overdosing, entering acute withdrawal, or trapped in chronic pain.
Dr. Ira Price Says: We were treating pain with a sledgehammer and destroying patients’ lives. I began evaluating cannabis under the federal MMAR program. Because there were no established clinical guidelines, I authored comprehensive clinical protocols for evaluating medical cannabis patients. The College of Physicians investigated me, but within months, my protocols became the foundation for provincial medical evaluation standards.
Dr. Ira Price Says: We conducted a 1,200-patient clinical study evaluating cannabis as an opioid substitute for chronic non-cancer pain.
Dr. Ira Price Says: Within 12 months, 85% of patients completely ceased all prescription narcotics! In 2021, I co-authored the medical cannabis guidelines for chronic pain published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Dr. Ira Price Says: Chronic pain isn’t about complete elimination—it’s about learning to walk alongside your pain so it doesn’t control your life. Cannabis provides that coping mechanism without the devastating side effects of opioids.
Tom Ritchie Says: What is the biological difference between how opioids and cannabinoids interact with the body?
Dr. Ira Price Says: Chronic opioid use destroys testosterone production, blunts dopamine pathways, and downregulates oxytocin receptors. Patients lose their drive for social connection, leading to isolation, depression, and severe suicidality.
Dr. Ira Price Says: Cannabinoids interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system (CB1 and CB2 receptors). They decrease social inhibition and anxiety, encouraging patients to remain socially active and engaged with their families.
Tom Ritchie Says: How does cannabis affect sleep architecture and REM cycles?
Dr. Ira Price Says: THC slightly shortens individual REM stages within a sleep cycle, which suppresses nightmares and night terrors in patients suffering from PTSD.
Dr. Ira Price Says: However, when balanced with CBD or CBN—such as a 4:1 ratio—it promotes deeper overall sleep cycles. Patients wake up restored without experiencing the grogginess of synthetic sedatives.
Tom Ritchie Says: Tell us about the Lovely Human Collective and the mission behind your apparel line.
Dr. Ira Price Says: During the pandemic lockdowns, I saw society fracturing into anger, judgment, and isolation. I launched Lovely Human Collective to remind people to lead with empathy, connection, and kindness.
Dr. Ira Price Says: Following the tragic events at the Nova Music Festival in Israel on October 7th, I volunteered as an emergency physician on ambulances near the border, treating wounded civilians regardless of background. When I returned, 100% of proceeds from Lovely Human apparel were donated to World Central Kitchen to feed displaced Palestinian and Israeli children.
Tom Ritchie Says: Ira, your energy and dedication are inspiring. Thank you for joining us!
Tom Ritchie Says: Now, let’s welcome constitutional litigator Kirk Tousaw!
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome to Legacies, Kirk! You are widely regarded as one of Canada’s foremost constitutional champions for cannabis rights.
Kirk Tousaw Says: Thanks for having me on, Tom and Wes! I don’t know if I’m Canada’s most hated lawyer by the government, but I’ve always been willing to take firm stands when federal policy violates basic human rights.
Kirk Tousaw Says: I started my legal career in Detroit doing commercial litigation before moving to Vancouver in 2002. I completed my Master of Laws at UBC focusing on cannabis prohibition, became Policy Director for the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), and partnered with the great John Conroy.
Tom Ritchie Says: You litigated the landmark Allard v. Canada case. Why was that decision pivotal?
Kirk Tousaw Says: Under the Harper government’s MMPR regulations, Ottawa attempted to strip medical patients of the right to grow their own cannabis, forcing everyone into commercial LP mail-order systems backed by mandatory minimum prison sentences.
Kirk Tousaw Says: John Conroy and I secured the federal injunction, and in 2016, the Federal Court struck down the ban under Section 7 of the Charter (the right to life, liberty, and security of the person). If citizens cannot grow their own natural medicine, they do not live in a truly free country.
Kirk Tousaw Says: In the Barron case with my business partner Mat Beren, the courts validated that compassion clubs like the Vancouver Island Compassion Society provided essential, organized medical distribution long before commercial frameworks existed.
Tom Ritchie Says: Walk us through the Supreme Court victory in R. v. Smith regarding cannabis extracts.
Kirk Tousaw Says: Owen Smith was charged for baking cannabis cookies for the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club. Under Health Canada’s rules at the time, patients were strictly limited to dried flower—edibles and extracts were illegal, even though Health Canada’s own guidelines advised against smoking!
Kirk Tousaw Says: During cross-examination of a patient witness who prepared cannabis tea by placing ground flower in a tea strainer with milk, the judge asked the Crown prosecutor: ‘She can legally possess the dried flower in the strainer, but the moment she lifts the strainer out of the cup, the liquid becomes an illegal extract?’
Kirk Tousaw Says: The Crown prosecutor replied: ‘Yes, Your Lordship, that is Health Canada’s position.’ The judge literally put his face in his hands. That absurdity proved the law was arbitrary. The Supreme Court unanimously legalized cannabis extracts and edibles across Canada.
Tom Ritchie Says: Why are current cannabis advertising and promotional restrictions under the Cannabis Act vulnerable to a legal challenge?
Kirk Tousaw Says: Section 2(b) of the Charter protects commercial freedom of expression. In RJR-MacDonald, the Supreme Court ruled that tobacco marketing restrictions infringed commercial speech, but the government justified them under Section 1 because tobacco is a lethal, addictive product that kills tens of thousands annually.
Kirk Tousaw Says: Cannabis is fundamentally non-lethal and possesses proven therapeutic benefits. Yet cannabis operators face far more restrictive advertising prohibitions than alcohol—a substance directly linked to severe societal and physiological harms.
Kirk Tousaw Says: Under the legal Oakes test, the government cannot prove that total promotion bans are the least intrusive means to protect public health. If industry associations redirected even a portion of their lobbying budgets into a unified Charter litigation campaign, we would dismantle these unconstitutional marketing restrictions.
Tom Ritchie Says: Why has the legal sector hesitated to take Health Canada to court?
Kirk Tousaw Says: Operators are terrified of risking their federal licenses, so they rely on endless polite lobbying. But in every mature industry—food, pharma, telecom—companies routinely take regulators to Federal Court when interpretations are unlawful.
Kirk Tousaw Says: Health Canada uses Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) as bureaucratic pressure, but legal precedent is established in courtrooms, not consultation webinars.
Tom Ritchie Says: Tell us about Great Gardener Farms and your experience as an independent craft producer.
Kirk Tousaw Says: My partner Mat Beren and I operate Great Gardener Farms on Vancouver Island, producing small-batch hash and live rosin. Expanding canopy size is meaningless if provincial distribution boards block craft access and marketing bans prevent you from communicating your quality to consumers.
Tom Ritchie Says: Why does Health Canada continue stalling on over-the-counter CBD wellness products?
Kirk Tousaw Says: The Cannabis Act is rooted in the federal criminal law power. If Health Canada reclassifies non-intoxicating CBD as a natural health product, federal bureaucrats lose administrative control over the category to provincial retail commerce. Bureaucracies protect their own jurisdiction.
Tom Ritchie Says: Last week, Dr. Shane Morris asked our chain question: ‘Where in Canada would you like to consume cannabis that you haven’t yet—a place that reflects everything the culture has fought through?’
Kirk Tousaw Says: Consuming on the steps of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa or on the steps of Parliament Hill! Those steps represent decades of tireless advocacy where patients and lawyers proved that personal liberty and plant medicine must prevail.
Tom Ritchie Says: What an iconic, fitting answer! Kirk, thank you for your historic contributions to cannabis freedom.
Wesley Bowles Says: This was an extraordinary double feature on the clinical science and constitutional history of Canadian cannabis.
Tom Ritchie Says: Thank you to Breadstack for powering the show. Check out their retail e-commerce platform below, and we’ll see you next week on Legacies!
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Medical Doctor & Wellness Founder
Dr. Ira Price is an emergency medicine and sports medicine physician, Canadian medical cannabis pioneer, and founder of The Lovely Human Collective.
View Guest Profile ↗Licensed Craft Cultivator
Great Gardener Farms is a premium craft cannabis cultivator and nursery co-founded by Kirk Tousaw and master breeder Mat Beren....
Learn More About Partner ↗Conroy v. Allard was a landmark constitutional challenge in Canada. Kirk Tousaw was a lead counsel in this case, which successfully protected the rights of medical patients to grow their own cannabis under federal regulations.
Dr. Ira Price was motivated by patient advocacy and pain management. Despite facing early professional skepticism, he became one of the first Canadian doctors to actively recommend medical cannabis and founded one of Ontario's first dedicated clinics.
Great Gardener Farms was founded by Kirk Tousaw and Mat Beren. The two met when Kirk defended Mat's legal rights as a grower for the Vancouver Island Compassion Society (VICS), leading to a lifelong friendship and partnership.
