Canadians will soon have a chance to access medical marijuana recommendations via a Mobile Cannabis Clinic that will be making its way through the country starting June 6th of this year. The Mobile Cannabis Clinic was created in order to ensure that all Canadians are able to find out whether or not they are eligible for the Canada Health medical marijuana program, without having to find a physician ready to recommend them.
“Educating patients about medical cannabis and how they can access it is an important priority for Tilray,” says Philippe Lucas, Vice President of Patient Research and Advocacy. “The Mobile Cannabis Clinic will allow us to share this important information with Canadians in various cities across the country and help connect patients with physicians who can address their questions.”
Since there are still many doctors who feel they don’t know enough about the plant or how to best supervise a patient’s use of it and there is no list of doctors who are prepared to work with medical marijuana, many patients either go without or self-medicate and purchase it outside legal means.
The mobile unit would make stops in major cities and would be on a walk-in basis so anyone can come in and learn more, find out if they qualify and even order their first medical marijuana.
“We’re not actually selling cannabis on site, that’s different from the current dispensaries. In this case, patients will be talking to physicians and being signed up to the MMPR — in other words, getting federal authorization to use cannabis through the Health Canada program,” he said (Tilray Vice-President Phillippe Lucas).
“After they’re registered, they’ll be able to order cannabis through the authorized system in Canada. We ship cannabis anywhere in Canada in 48 hours for $5.”
There will be over stops in over 35 cities throughout the provinces of British Colombia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario on this tour. It will start in Nanaimo in British Colombia where the company responsible, Tilray, is located. Physicians will be available on site whenever possible so that locals can meet doctors who can oversee their treatment.
“There’s a lot of municipalities in Canada where patients have a very limited option in terms of the local physicians that might be available, and we know there’s still some physicians that don’t feel they have the knowledge base and comfort level to provide cannabis,” Lucas said.
“If (patients) end up being approved for use for medical cannabis, they will be able to sign up for a producer right away and order cannabis right away as well.”
This unique approach to bringing medical marijuana to patients is actually pretty genius. In California and some other states in the U.S. there are apps that connect you to a physician to get a license for medical marijuana; however this is a much more personal approach and it allows patients and doctors to meet in person to discuss any concerns or questions before beginning treatment. The idea is great, and if done right this could be a great opportunity that other places might want to consider.
