Your decision to try medicinal cannabis is one that has not been taken lightly.
Possibly, you have been undergoing conventional treatment for your condition for some time, and have perhaps found little relief or improvement. You’ve heard about the experience of other people who are self-medicating with this wholly natural product and you are now willing to try it.
You have made your decision, although you still have mixed feelings about cannabis use. The purpose of this notice is strictly informational.
If you are ready try legal medicinal cannabis, this is how you should proceed in Canada:
1. First of all, you have to go to your computer and open the federal government’s website at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/marihuana/how-comment/index-eng.php
2. It is a lengthy document. Read all of the information there (more than once and very carefully), and if you believe the wording in the application form covers your particular condition/illness, download the application documents that are applicable to your specific situation and fill them out. Note that you will be required to have two passport-sized photos taken for ID purposes, as well as to provide the names and photos of people who will grow cannabis for you if you don’t wish to grow your own. Dried cannabis is also available from the federal government’s approved suppliers.
3. Your physician will be required to sign one section of the application form, to confirm that you are who you say you are, and that he/she supports your decision to use medicinal cannabis. If your physician refuses this request, you will have to look around for one who will agree to sign your paperwork.
4. Once a physician’s signature has been obtained, take the completed government paperwork directly to the Compassion Club in Vernon, located next to our MLA’s office at: Be Kind Okanagan Growers & Compassion Club, 3205 31st Ave. Telephone: 778-475-5592.
5. The personnel at Be Kind are knowledgeable about the use of medicinal cannabis, such as the dosages required, the choice of dry, distilled, ointment or fresh (juiced) product. They will check your paperwork. You will learn a great deal from them, and they will be able to go ahead and offer you a selection of cannabis product without delay.
6. If you decide to grow your own cannabis plants, the choice of seed producers is very wide and the seeds are expensive.
There is also an extensive variety of books you can read; and YouTube videos online take you through the steps necessary to produce the various forms of medicinal cannabis. You can also Google many links to other websites that will be of assistance in your research.
7. I emphasize, you will not necessarily have to smoke cannabis. There are several other forms of the plant available for sick people to use.
The whole paperwork approval process, from downloading the federal government permission application to the receipt of a legal cannabis-user’s ID card, will take at least six weeks, and by then, you can already be a knowledgeable, and legal, user.)
Jo Jones
Vernon
