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Robert W.E. Laurie is an international lawyer, writer, and speaker, qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales and called to the British Columbia Bar as a barrister and solicitor. After practicing law in London and New York in the areas of International hedge fund formation and securities fraud litigation, Robert founded AD LUCEM LAW CORPORATION in Vancouver in 2013. Robert’s legal practice focusses on cannabis, including business law, administrative and family litigation, plus criminal and marijuana regulatory defense. Robert is also a recent appointment to the City of Nanaimo’s newly established municipal Cannabis Task Force and is a Board Advisor to MAPS Canada. Robert has advised licensed producers, pre-license entities, technology companies, and other domestic and foreign participants in the Canadian cannabis industry in relation to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and its regulations, including the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (the “ACMPR”) and the Narcotic…

Gerald Major is a medical cannabis patient, a staunch chronic illness advocate and an arthritis survivor. Gerald’s Arthritis took him out of full time employment 8 years ago when he was the Senior Vice President of Operations for Citibank Hedge Fund Services North America. Since then, he’s become the President of the Canadian Spondylitis Association, Vice President of Canadians for Fair Access to Medicinal Marijuana, board member and consumer group chair of the Arthritis Alliance of Canada, Best Medicine Coalition board member, and a member of Ontario Best Practice Research Initiative patient advisory committee. His passion for advocacy stems from his personal battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis and Psoriatic Arthritis, both inflammatory arthritis that ends in fusion in the back and peripheral joints. Gerald is frequently invited to share his story of Spondyloarthritis, Mental Health and Medical Cannabis by the health care community. In 2016, upon noticing the barriers to medical…

Riley Cote is a former National Hockey League (NHL) left winger for the Philadelphia Flyers. After 6 seasons with the Flyers, Cote retired from hockey and founded The Hemp Heals Foundation, an organization that supports sustainable agriculture, sustainable health, and clean natural medicine, while focusing on a holistic approach to optimum health. In 2017 Cote co-founded his second company, Athletes for Care (A4C), not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating a community where athletes can find support, opportunity, and purpose in life after a career in sports. A4C’s advocacy goals include increasing awareness and access to alternative medicine/therapy, extending health care coverage, improving athlete safety, reducing opioid dependency, expanding mental health support and, lobbying athletic governing bodies to embrace safer practices and alternative treatments. Cote joins Medicinal My Way as an advocate on behalf of the patients, whose journeys are supported by not only the community but by research and first-hand experiences.

Commander (Retired) Dennis Filips, MD, FRCSC is the founder, Vice-Chairman, and Chief Medical Officer of Innovative Trauma Care Inc., and the inventor of the iTClamp, a mechanical device designed for military and civilian users to control severe bleeding within a few seconds. He is also currently working to educate and treat patients using medical marijuana. He was an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the National Defense University in Washington DC where he taught Healthcare Industry Studies, worked as a general/trauma surgeon and as a course director for Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) and Tactical Medicine courses for the military and tactical police units. In 2010 he deployed to Haiti post earthquake with the Canadian Red Cross as the chief surgeon at the Notre Dame Hospital in Petit Goave. He has been a trauma/general surgeon at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and chaired the Canadian…

Shamus is an 18 year veteran of the Canadian army. Who currently resides in Conception Bay South, Newfoundland. When released in 2006 with a diagnosis of PTSD he tried to assimilate into the civilian world as an electrician.  However, he found his symptoms getting worse. After exhausting numerous pills over the years, his condition was finally stabilized due to his introduction to Medical Cannabis. Since then, Shamus has been outspoken about the benefits of Cannabis in both the Veteran community and beyond.

Ryan, a native of Norfolk County, is a well-recognized and respected local athlete, businessman, and a vigorous community supporter through many charitable events and programs. His early career was centered on the game of hockey where he played professionally for 14 years being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing for the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ryan later completed business related courses through the NHL alumni in entrepreneurship, sales and marketing, communications and social media. He is particularly interested and involved in studies relating to pain management and the medical uses of natural substances by retired athletes who have sustained injuries in their careers. He is particularly concerned with finding alternatives to the extensive use of prescription drugs (opiates) by players who have fallen victim to their use to ease chronic pain.  Ryan is the owner of a 64 acre farm in Norfolk County, and a late…

Kevin McClelland is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player from the National Hockey League. From an early age Kevin was making his mark on the hockey word, at just 16 he scored 50 goals and 124 points with the Oshawa Legionaires of the OMHA. Kevin spent the majority of his NHL career playing center ice with the Edmonton Oilers from 1984 – 1989 winning four Stanley cups. McClelland retired in 1995 following 588 NHL games, recording a total of 68 goals, 112 assists, 180 points, and 1672 penalty minutes. Over Kevin’s career in hockey he served as the head coach for multiple teams most recently in 2010 serving as the head coach for the Wichita Thunder of the Central Hockey League. Kevin is no rooky when it comes to seeing and feeling the injuries from the love of playing hockey. Kevin believes in finding alternatives to the extensive use…

Dr. Barbara Mainville is a powerful advocate for improved and equal access to medicinal cannabis. Through her work at the Canabo Medical Clinic, she advocates for fair and equal access to medicinal cannabis for those who need it through her role as a physician and an educator to various medical associations. Since graduation from the University of Ottawa Medical School, she has dedicated herself to a number of roles. As Medical Director of the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital Continuing Care and Rehabilitation program, she oversaw patients in various phases of recovery and end of life care. She has seen first-hand the benefits of a variety of medical therapies through her palliative care experience, as well as through her 20+ years as an Emergency Room Physician and Primary Care Physician for young adults. She has also served as a coroner for the province of Ontario for over 30 years. In…