Where to buy medicinal cannabis in Canada

Medical cannabis has been legal for Canadian patients since 2001 and available through licensed retailers since 2013, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the system is easy to navigate.

Unlike other prescription drugs, medicinal cannabis is not prescribed at all and you cannot pick it up at the pharmacy. Rather, its use is approved by a doctor—and not necessarily your doctor, as many general practitioners are still reluctant to recommend cannabis for therapeutic purposes.

Once you are authorized to purchase medical cannabis, your clinic will match you with a medical retailer. These sellers are online only, there are currently no personal pharmacies for medical use.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of online medical retailers: farm-to-sale retailers primarily sell their own products, although they may offer a limited selection of their partners’ products, and marketplace-style retailers, which sell a selection of products from offer a variety of sources.

Which is Better: Farm-to-Sale or Marketplace?

What is best depends on what you are looking for. If you already know what you like and feel easily overwhelmed with choices, a single farm-to-sale provider might be right for you. However, if you’d rather test products from multiple vendors, you’re probably better off with a marketplace model.

Either way, like everything these days, both types of retailers can experience product shortages, disruptions, and delays, so it’s a good idea to ask specific questions about inventory quality and consistency before signing on to anyone.

Related

How to Obtain Medical Cannabis in Canada (From a Licensed Physician)

A good clinic will give patients unbiased advice on where to send their authorization, but it’s still important to do your due diligence. The good news is that you don’t have to stick with a single medical retailer unless you want to.

You can request that your authorization be split between two or more providers, e.g. B. two farm-to-sale LPs or two marketplaces or a combination of both. Or you can move your approval papers from supplier to supplier one by one to sample different goods from different suppliers.

You should always feel able to choose any and as many retailers as possible to meet your healthcare needs.

Where to buy medical marijuana in Canada

Not sure which providers are best for your medicinal cannabis needs? We have them. Here are the details of six of Canada’s more established medical retailers.

Merchant type: marketplace

Number of brands listed: 50+

Shipment: Free with orders over $99

Discounts: Frequent sales and price reductions

While you can enjoy a wide range of products from Medical Cannabis by Shoppers (MCbyS) – backed by Loblaw’s own Shoppers dispensary – don’t expect to be heading to your local dispensary for your medical marijuana anytime soon to buy. Like all medical retailers, this one is entirely online.

If you like the idea of ​​getting your medicine from a trusted brand that is also involved in advancing cannabis research, MCbyS might be for you. Well stocked with flowers, oils and capsules, MCbyS also offers a selection of concentrates and edibles as well as a few topicals, sublingual strips, suppositories, transdermal patches and bath bombs.

Merchant type: From the farm for sale

Shipment: Free with orders over $150

Discounts: 25% discount for new and renewed patients, for referrals, and for clients earning less than $30,000/year; 10% discount for seniors; 50% discount for patients under 19 years old

Do you want to feel good about your life choices? Aqualitas’ small batch and organic plants are sustainably grown using aquaculture and living soil and are Clean Green certified.

The company is also a proud supporter of diversity initiatives, and no, that’s not just window dressing – co-founder and CEO Myrna Gillis was an established advocate for human rights and disability law before leading the company. Aqualitas regularly contributes to the LGBTQ+ community and has a workforce that is 43% female. In addition to the usual flowers, vaporizer cartridges, and edibles, Aqualitas also offers salt baths, bath bombs, and suppositories.

Merchant type: From the farm for sale

Shipment: Free with orders over $99

Discounts: 25% discount on eligible products for children and patients with annual income less than $30,000; 10% discount for seniors; $50 annual renewal credit; $25 referral credit

As one of the first medical retailers in Canada, CannaFarms has been serving patients since 2013. Although CannaFarms is limited to its own products, CannaFarms offers something in almost every product category. The retailer offers a variety of flowers, a selection of infused chocolates, at least seven types of concentrates, multiple vape cartridges, and at least one suppository.

CannaFarms also invests heavily in veteran support, offering priority registration, pre-approval and dedicated support for former members of the Canadian Armed Forces, among other perks.

Merchant type: marketplace

Number of brands listed: 30+

Shipment: Free on orders over $75 or within 30 miles of Ottawa

Discounts: seniors and ODSP/low income 10%; direct billing for veterans; Pharmacy Patients 25% compassionate prices

Both a compound dispensary and medical retailer, Hybrid Pharms offers medical marijuana in nearly every product category, including transdermal patches, sublingual strips, immediate-release tablets, suppositories, and seeds, in addition to its standard selection of flower, oils, capsules, edibles, and vapes.

Backed by real pharmacists, Hybrid Pharm is able to do what few other providers can – offer medical expertise. This is one of the few places in Canada where patients can have their medicinal cannabis permit and pharmaceutical prescriptions in one place.

trader type: marketplace

Number of brands listed: 50+

Shipment: Free with orders over $150

discounts: The Compassionate Pricing program offers a 10% discount for people receiving disability benefits or earning less than $30,000/year

With an impressive range of live resin, rosin, bubble hash and temple balls from brands with names like Nugz, Legacy Market and Lot 420, Mendo clearly caters to both experienced and legacy market consumers.

Mendo is touted for its affordable bulk purchases, offering a variety of 7g, 14g, and 28g bags of whole flower. The retailer also stocks pre-rolls, suppositories, a good selection of topicals, and other hard-to-find items like seeds and clones.

Merchant type: From the farm for sale

Shipment: Free with orders over $99

Discounts: 20% discount for patients earning less than $30,000/year; 15% for active CARP members; 20% discount for patients under 18 years old

For the patient who has never inhaled and does not wish to start now, Opticann’s neatly packaged and highly processed products offer little evidence that herbal ingredients are present. You won’t find any flower, concentrates, high-THC, or accessories here. This provider is best suited for patients who want the benefits of medical cannabis but not the cannabis itself.

Opticann instead focuses on its CB4 formulations, which combine CBD-rich products with pharmaceutical technology to increase potency and absorption. At the time of writing, Opticann offered six products, all of which were CBD-dominant: two types of softgels, a pack of sublingual strips, a muscle gel, a face gel, and a skin cream.

*Editor’s Note: This is not a comprehensive list of medical retailers in Canada. If you would like to nominate your favorite seller, send an email ashley.keenan@leafly.com

Devon Scoble

Devon, formerly Executive Editor at Leafly Canada, is a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist focused on health and lifestyle stories. Find her online at www.devonscoble.com or at your local cannabis store where you can stock up on Mango Haze flower and low dose edibles.

Check out Devon Scoble’s articles

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