Russell Bennett

Russell Bennett, B.Sc., LL.B.
Cannabis Lawyer, Author, Filmmaker, Podcast Host
Russell Bennett became a lawyer in 1997, prior to establishing a career in film, theatre and documentary production. In 1998, Bennett produced and directed the documentary STONED: Hemp Nation on Trial, which followed the test case and trial of Christopher Clay, owner of Hemp Nation, Canada’s first hemp store. STONED premiered nationally in Canada on CBC TV and was nominated for Best Political Documentary at Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival. In 2004, Bennett created the award-winning multi-character solo play, The Reefer Man, which told the story of a lawyer, who grows award-winning marijuana in his basement and transforms into an underground cannabis superhero. Bennett toured the play to fringe festivals and professional theatres across Canada. After the birth of his first child, Bennett went back to the practice of law in 2013 with his father at Bennett & Company, practicing bankruptcy and insolvency law. In 2018, Bennett founded Cannabis Law, a full-service cannabis law firm to give entrepreneurs and small businesses the tools to grow and to protect themselves in the cannabis industry regarding litigation, regulatory matters, licence applications, employees, intellectual property, land use planning, asset protection and partner/shareholder issues. Cannabis Law also challenges questionable cannabis laws under Canada’s Constitution. Bennett wrote the book Canada’s Cannabis Act: Annotation & Commentary so he could help people understand how Canada’s version of legalization works, and doesn’t work. Bennett posts on matters relating to cannabis and the law, and hosts a podcast Cannabis Law in Canada, which features long-form interviews with industry and legal experts.