Dr. Shane Morris
Chief Executive Officer
Morris and Associates Consulting Inc.
Dr. Shane Morris leads Morris and Associates Consulting Inc., a global cannabis consultancy that provides regulatory and product development support to industry actors based on experience and proven execution.
Dr. Morris has held C-suite and senior executive leadership roles in government and industry. He has over 20 years of experience in scientific and regulatory affairs. Dr. Morris has been a senior executive in the cannabis industry since 2015. Committed to rigorous, science-based consumer focused innovation, Shane has led the development and market introduction of many new cannabis products in the Canadian and European markets. Prior to consulting, Dr. Morris was Chief Product Officer for Aurora Cannabis. Shane’s proven expertise in quality assurance, cannabis operations, regulatory affairs and food safety ensured success in launching legal vapes, gummies, mints, chocolates, cookies, softgels, topicals and drinks. Products developed by Dr. Morris had retail sales of over $40M in 2020. Morris and Associates Consulting clients had 14 SKUs launched in 2021 valued at over $15M in sales. Dr. Morris currently serves on the Board of Directors on Feather Inc, a cannabis innovation company operating in Canada and the USA.
During his time at Aurora, Dr. Morris also led a world class regulatory affairs team managing the largest number of cannabis site licences in the world, in addition to many international initiatives and exports of medical cannabis to new markets. Prior to joining Aurora, Shane was Vice-President of Quality Assurance and Scientific Affairs at HEXO, a Quebec-based licensed producer. While there, he was also designated as the senior person in charge under Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations.
Before his activities in the cannabis industry, Shane had fifteen years of experience at science-policy interfaces, working on high-profile risk issues within the Canadian federal government. He has held senior positions and executive appointments at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Public Health Agency of Canada, Natural Resources Canada and Treasury Board Canada Secretariat’s Regulatory Affairs Sector, where he advised the Canadian cabinet on regulatory issues and new government regulatory initiatives.
Shane holds a Ph.D. in plant science and policy from the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway and a B.Sc. in biology and mathematics from NUI, Maynooth. He was also a Teagasc Walsh Fellow. He publishes and lectures widely on regulation, risk and policy and has advised members of the Irish Parliament and the European Parliament on agri-biotechnology and cannabis issues. He has provided expert witness testimony in five cannabis legal cases.