Thousands of Canadians are federally licensed to possess and use medical marijuana anywhere in Canada. If you are new to medical marijuana, the only way to legally protect yourself from possession charges is through the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) which came into effect on August 24th 2016. For information on the new ACMPR please click here.
Under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations ACMPR program now in effect the decision to use marijuana for medical purposes is now between the patient and physician alone. Within the Greenleaf Medical Clinic a patient must have a prior diagnosis within the past five years from a Canadian physician. A patient must be followed by a family doctor or specialist within the past year to be eligible for an appointment. If you do not have a family doctor it is still ok if you frequent a walk in clinic.
All medical documentation must be accessible from the physician, records department, walk in clinic or hospital.
Please note that we cannot provide you with a family doctor or specialist for your primary care. We can provide you with a qualified doctor from the Greenleaf Medical Clinic with special interests in medical marijuana.
To be eligible for the ACMPR you will need to provide medical documentation confirming your diagnosis by a health care practitioner. The physician or nurse practitioner that assesses your eligibility for the ACMPR will require that your medical documentation is within a certain (at their discretion) time frame and will verify the documentation provided.
An authorized health care practitioner is either a physician or nurse practitioner and must meet the following requirements:
The physician must be a member in good standing with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and must hold a valid license from the licensing authority in the province/territory they work in and hold a valid narcotics class 1 license.
Nurse practitioners are newly recognized as authorized eligible to sign the ACMPR prescription by Health Canada under the ACMPR. Providing this authority to nurse practitioners will benefit many of the clients they serve and is an appropriate enhancement of their scope of practice.