Dr. Daniel Bear is the Director of the Centre for Social Innovation at Humber College and has worked in Canadian and US drugs policy since 2003, when he started a chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. He went on to work with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Drug Law Reform Project where he focused on public education and outreach initiatives in support of civil and criminal cases across the United States. Dr. Bear’s doctoral work at the London School of Economics and Political Science focused on the implementation of cannabis policy by police in the UK. 

Since coming to Canada in 2013, Dr. Bear focused on cannabis education, harm reduction, and how young people make decisions about how and where they consume cannabis. Currently, Dr. Bear leads the Canadian team of the Global Cannabis Cultivation Research Consortium (GCCRC), and the Engaging and Educating Young-Adult Cannabis Consumers (EEYCC) project. 

His latest research project is called Pharmacists as Cannabis Educators (PACE), where he works with the Canadian Pharmacists Association and other groups to re-imagine the role pharmacists can play in supporting cannabis consumers. He has been a Professor in the Faculty of Social and Community Services (FSCS) at Humber College in Toronto for eight years. 

If that’s not enough, Dr. Bear is also the Principal Consultant at Responsum Consulting, where he works with clients such as the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse to support knowledge translation efforts around cannabis research.

I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Thank you to Jeremy Benning, our co-producer and sound editor.

And thank you to Albert Wong, who created and performed our beautiful music.

For more insightful conversations related to cannabis law, listen to our other episodes at https://podcast.cannabislawonearth.com/

If you're looking for a good text book on Canada's federal cannabis law and regulations with helpful related case law, read Canada's Cannabis Act.

And if you need a cannabis lawyer, ask Russell for more information at https://cannabislaw.ca