When the recreational use of marijuana was legalized in Canada two months ago, it unleashed a plethora of legal issues – and opportunities. To make sense of all aspects of the newly enacted Bill C-45, federal regulations, and the complementary provincial laws and regulations, Robert Frater, QC, Law’84, co-authored the practical guide Cannabis Law (Thomson Reuters). The timely book was launched on December 6 at a Toronto gathering filled with lawyers and judges. Several of them were members of Law’84 who also came to celebrate their classmate’s achievement.
“The book is largely descriptive rather than analytical, because knowing what the law is with so many statutes and regulations is a formidable task,” says Frater, Chief General Counsel with the federal Department of Justice.
Criminal law, commercial law, workplace law and human rights law are just some of the areas affected by the Cannabis Act, and covered in the book. One topic in the criminal and regulatory offences chapter is about cannabis-impaired driving. “This is a subject much in the news lately, and there is a prominent advertising campaign by MADD,” says Frater. “Along with the Cannabis Act, the federal government overhauled the provisions of the Criminal Code dealing with drug-impaired driving. It is very complicated stuff.”
The first chapter contains a history of cannabis regulation in Canada. “It was the most fun to write,” says Frater, who has argued numerous high-profile cases before the Supreme Court of Canada, appeared in appellate courts in several provinces and territories, and lectured and written on a wide variety of subjects.
Frater and his Cannabis Law co-authors, Bruce Macfarlane, QC, and Croft Michaelson QC, also wrote the fourth edition of the loose-leaf book Drug Offences in Canada (Thomson Reuters, 2015), a detailed and cutting-edge analysis of complex legal and strategic issues that can arise in cases involving drugs. Next year marks the fortieth anniversary of the leading text, which judges and lawyers use as an authority on the conduct of drug cases.
“We thought that since we would have to research the new laws anyway for that book, we might be able to do a second one on cannabis law easily,” says Frater. “Boy were we wrong! Cannabis law involves so many different areas of law, and so many different statutes and regulations, it was a daunting task.”
2019 will also see the publication of two more related books by Frater and his co-authors: Cannabis Law – The Legislative Framework, a companion book of statutes; and a French translation of Cannabis Law.
By Lisa Graham