Pubdate: Fri, 06 May 2016
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Linda Nguyen
Page: S6

LOBLAW HEAD WANTS MEDICAL WEED SOLD AT HIS SHOPS

Grocery pharmacies, Shoppers Drug Mart 'effective at managing
controlled substances,' Galen Weston Jr. said

Galen G. Weston wants in on the medical marijuana business.

Weston, the head of the country's largest drugstore and grocery chain,
said Thursday that pharmacists are well-positioned to dispense the
drug in a safe manner.

"We're an industry that is extremely effective at managing controlled
substances," said Weston, Loblaw's president and executive chairman,
following the company's annual general meeting Thursday.

"It gives pharmacists the opportunity to work directly in real time
with patients as opposed to doing it through the mail, working on
their doses and making sure it actually has the therapeutic effect
that it is intended to have."

Although he doesn't see any "safety or credibility" issues with the
current mail system, where patients are sent the drug from a licensed
producer, Weston said patients would be able to receive more
consultation if the dispensing was done face-to-face.

If given the go-ahead from Ottawa, Loblaw would be open to dispensing
medical cannabis in all forms, at all their Shoppers Drug Mart and
grocery pharmacy locations, Weston added.

The pitch from Weston is not entirely new. A spokeswoman for Shoppers
Drug Mart delivered a similar take in February in its efforts to
persuade the federal government to allow pharmacists to sell medical
marijuana.

Still, his comments mark the latest sign that the marijuana industry
is increasingly seen as a legitimate way for businesses to make money
in a hyper-competitive retail sector.

Loblaw is not directly lobbying Ottawa on the issue, but it is
supporting the Canadian Pharmacists Association in its efforts.

Last month, the professional group updated its stance, saying it had
growing concerns over what it calls a "lack of clinical oversight" in
the use of medical marijuana if pharmacies don't play a "frontline
role" in providing access to the drug.

The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada, whose members
include London Drugs, I.D.A. and Rexall, also holds a similar view.

Under Health Canada's rules, patients are only able to buy medical
marijuana from licensed producers and are no longer permitted to grow
their own, something they were allowed to do prior to 2013.

In February, a B.C. court recently struck down the law as
unconstitutional. Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled that
forcing patients to buy marijuana through the mail from a licensed
producer was an "arbitrary and overbroad" violation of patients'
charter rights.

Ottawa is looking at making changes to the regulations and expects to
complete the process in August.

The Liberal government has also committed to legalizing recreational
marijuana use, although no timeline has been given on that initiative.

Weston said Loblaw is currently focused only on the distribution of
marijuana for medical use, not recreational use.
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