Shoppers Drug Mart applies to be a distributor of medical marijuana
Posted October 25, 2016 10:51 am.
Last Updated October 25, 2016 5:59 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Shoppers Drug Mart has submitted an application to distribute medical marijuana, claiming that allowing pharmacies to dispense the drug would improve the quality of patient care.
But even if the application is approved, Canada’s largest pharmacy chain won’t be permitted to sell the drug through its stores unless Ottawa changes the rules governing the medical marijuana regime.
Registered patients are only permitted to buy cannabis directly from licensed producers, who send the product to clients by mail.
But Shoppers Drug Mart spokeswoman Tammy Smitham says the company is hopeful that the federal government will consider updating the rules to allow pharmacies to play a role in distributing the drug.
“We believe that allowing medical marijuana to be dispensed through pharmacy would increase access, safety, quality and security for the thousands of Canadians who use the drug as part of their medication therapy,” Smitham said in an email.
Smitham said the retailer, which is owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd., has applied to Health Canada to become a licensed medical marijuana producer – but only for the purpose of distributing the drug.
Shoppers has “no intention” of producing cannabis, she said, calling the application an administrative requirement in order to be able to distribute medical marijuana to patients.
“We have no intention of producing medical marijuana but we do want the ability to dispense medical marijuana to our patients in conjunction with counselling from a pharmacist and we are hopeful that the government of Canada will embrace that opportunity for enhanced patient care,” Smitham said.
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Earlier this year, following Loblaw’s annual general meeting, company president and executive chairman Galen G. Weston said pharmacies are well positioned to distribute the drug.
Weston said he doesn’t have any “safety or credibility” issues with the current mail-order system, but noted that patients could receive more consultation if the drug was sold face-to-face by pharmacists.
The Canadian Pharmacists Association has said it is concerned about a lack of clinical oversight and that pharmacies should play a leading role in the distribution of medical marijuana.
Marijuana has become an increasingly popular treatment choice for Canadians, as the number of clients registered with Health Canada to use the drug has grown rapidly.
At the end of June there were 75,166 registered clients under the medical marijuana regime, according to the Health Canada’s website.
That’s up 40 per cent from the previous quarter, when there were 53,649 clients, and up more than 200 per cent from a year ago when only 23,930 people had registered to receive the drug.
