Don’t Get Too Excited About Shoppers Selling Weed
Credit to Author: Manisha Krishnan| Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2019 22:51:18 +0000
There’s a lot of hype over the fact that Shoppers Drug Mart is selling medical cannabis now, but the reality is they won’t have any weed in their stores.
The drug store chain’s cannabis e-commerce site launched Tuesday though for now it’s only open to medical cannabis patients who live in Ontario.
Patients can register with Shoppers, purchase cannabis from one of the 10 licensed producers Shoppers is partnered with, and have their medication sent either directly to their homes or to their doctor’s office.
“As trusted medication experts, pharmacists have an important role to play in the safe and informed use of medical cannabis. Today’s announcement is a leap forward for those looking for professional oversight and trusted support in this area,” Jeff Leger, president of Shoppers Drug Mart, said in a news release.
But critics argue that Shoppers’ decision to sell weed won’t amount to much improvement for medical patients, who are already currently restricted to purchasing cannabis through the mail.
Pharmacies are not currently allowed to dispense medical cannabis.
Cannabis lawyer Jack Lloyd told VICE the only thing that will make a difference is if patients are able to have direct access to their medication in person.
“It is mail order so they are just another licensed producer,” he said. “Nothing special.”
In a statement issued in July 2017, the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Associations expressed reservations about having pharmacists dispense medical cannabis.
“We insist that external pressures must not result in the bypassing of critical checks and balances that preserve the integrity of our health care system, and ultimately, the health of Canadians,” the organization said, calling for continued discussions around the “regulatory safeguards necessary for pharmacy professionals to dispense cannabis for medical purposes.”
“Now that there’s money in it they come crawling back,” said Lloyd.
Alexzander Samuelsson, lead chemist at Nextleaf Solution, a Vancouver-based firm that specializes in cannabis extractions, told VICE he’s skeptical Shoppers’ services for cannabis patients will live up to the hype surrounding the announcement.
He said the company’s cannabis site contains “less information than a for profit media company like Lift, Leafly, or Herb.”
Under strain information, Shoppers simply says sativa products “may cause less drowsiness than products labelled as ‘indica’” while it notes that an indica “may cause more drowsiness than products labelled as ‘sativa’.” There is no other information about the two strains and their effects.
“Cannabis scientists like myself are constantly digging into papers, it’s our obsession to keep on top of the latest science and how it affects our health. I wonder how many pharmacists and doctors do the same,” Samuelsson said.
He took issue with Shoppers’ claims that patients will be able to rely on the chain’s “trusted” cannabis expertise.
“Knowing that the vast majority of doctors don’t even know what an endocannabinoid system is, or how different terpenes are the source for different strains (indica/sativa), or what if any contraindications are possible, I’m not pleased with the level of marketing to instill confidence that neither earned nor proven.”
One potential upside to the Shoppers announcement is it will likely help destigmatize cannabis as a medication, said Michael Verbora, chief medical officer for Aleafia Total Health Network, a chain of medical cannabis clinics.
“It legitimizes medical more and reassures patients that medical cannabis requires expertise and help,” Verbora told VICE.
He said he hopes pharmacies will eventually be able to set up shop inside medical cannabis clinics and dispense weed “to fully treat it more like any other pharmaceutical with no barriers.”
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