Ottawa, Ontario: Health Canada may resurrect a proposal to make government grown medicinal cannabis available in licensed pharmacies, according to Canadian press reports.
The proposal, first announced by the agency in February of last year,allows for select pharmacies to distribute medical cannabis to authorized patients. Plans now call for the pilot program to begin in British Columbia early next year.
If Health Canada implements the plan, they will become the second nation to allow for the distribution of federally grown cannabis in licensed pharmacies. The Netherlands instituted a similar plan in 2003, though a recent study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology Drug Safety notes that more than 80 percent of Dutch patients continue to obtain medical cannabis from the black market and/or coffee shops.
Under Canadian law, patients may apply with Health Canada for a federal exemption to possess and cultivate cannabis for medical purposes. Approximately 950 medical marijuana patients are registered with the agency, although less than 250 currently elect to receive government grown cannabis.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.