Pubdate: Tue, 05 Jul 2016 Source: Metro (Ottawa, CN ON) Copyright: 2016 Metro Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/Ottawa Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4032 Author: Lucy Scholey Page: 3 MARIJUANA PATIENTS BRACE FOR POSSIBLE MAIL DELAYS Canada Post unrest has some looking for alternates Medical marijuana patients are bracing for late prescription deliveries and mail disruptions as Canada Post labour talks continue this week. As of Monday, Canada Post had yet to give the required 72 hours notice of a lockout, and the postal workers union had yet to give notice of job action. But some licensed cannabis producers have already found alternate delivery methods for the tens of thousands of Canadian patients who get their medicine by mail. Tweed Marijuana Inc., a company based in Smiths Falls, Ont., switched to multiple couriers about a week and a half ago. "This is a big logistical system, so when you change from one provider to the next, there are bound to be people impacted by it," says Jordan Sinclair, communications manager at Tweed. "Surprisingly, it's been fairly smooth." But one medical marijuana advocate is still worried. Laurie Maceachern, managing director at Medicinal Cannabis Patients' Alliance of Canada Inc., says medical cannabis users already struggle with what she calls a "haphazard" government marijuana program, citing delivery issues, missing packages and stock shortages among the problems. "The consistency and uniformity for something that is so strictly regulated is just very haphazard and doesn't instil a lot of faith in the system," she says. "The patients are suffering stress and anxiety, which very often are conditions that they're treating with the cannabis that they're waiting for in the first place." The Canada Post problem adds "another layer," she says. The concern for Dianna Donnelly, a medical cannabis user in Kingston, Ont., is security. She's heard horror stories about prescription cannabis packages getting lost in the mail and she's curious to see how a new courier fares. "I'm almost expecting delays," she says. The government changed its medical marijuana rules two years ago, so only licensed producers can mail out prescription orders. According to Health Canada, there were 53,649 clients registered through the government's medical marijuana program at the end of March. By comparison, 18,512 clients had registered by the end of March in 2015. The client base of Tweed, and its sister company Bedrocan Cannabis Corp., has exploded from a few hundred in their May 2014 launch to more than 16,000 combined, said Sinclair. Meanwhile, Canada Post and CUPW are still at the negotiating table. Mike Palecek, national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), says a sticking point is pay equity for rural and suburban mail carriers, particularly women. - - With files from The Canadian Press - --- MAP posted-by: Matt