For cheaper cannabis to the pharmacy - do Canadians simulate with a doctor?
- Is there a pile of hypochondriacs among Canadian patients seeking access to medical cannabis?
- Is there really a need to increase the taxation of prescription medical marijuana in order to reduce the number of pretending, recreational users looking for quality herbal medicine?
The Canadian government thinks so - that's exactly why he's pushing for a new tax law.
Taxes and prescription drugs (cannabis)
All cannabis sold through the current legal, health program that allows patients suffering from certain diseases to obtain prescription for cannabis is subject to both federal and provincial sales taxes in Canada. This is nothing new for cannabis patients, as the law has been in place since 2013, when cannabis was newly authorized in Canada.
Now, however, the Canadian government has reiterated the need to change taxes on all legal cannabis producers to 10% - regardless of whether the cannabis is directed at patients or recreational users.
"Ottawa has recently announced that the percentage of taxation on sales of medical cannabis will be changed to 10% for both recreational cannabis and cannabis patients ."
"Our government remains focused on the original goal of creating and maintaining a functioning medical system for medical cannabis," MP Bill Blair explained in an interview with The Globe and Mail in November. "At the same time, we do not want tax laws to be an incentive for people who intend to use the system inappropriately, and we propose that tax standards be unified."
The government began pushing for the proposal in December 2017, just as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared on Toronto's Breakfast in the morning show: on TV Trudeau.
The public's reaction to the prime minister's statement was, to say the least, outraged. For example, Mandy McKnight, the mother of a boy who was allowed to use very highcannabinoid CBD oil for epilepsy by allowing medical cannabis, tweeted sarcastically: trying to och * at the system to save a poor dollar. Is that how we make laws in Canada now? ”
However, with McKnight's indignant dig, a very important question arises - how many people are really trying to get around the system just to be able to smoke cannabis at home on TV and a little cheaper?
The Leafly editorial staff went to ask this interesting question straight to the source, to a medical cannabis consultant who has previously worked directly at several of the leading cannabis clinics across Toronto, Brian Kierans.
"I don't think there are as many people abusing the system as anyone might think," Kierans said. Leafly wanted to know what percentage she'd guess, and his answer was aptly very similar to McKnight's tweet: I've been in clinics for over a year, and I know from personal experience that people who go for recreational cannabis and realize that they're in a patient clinic turn on their heels very quickly and usually with some comic excuse. ”
"Some of the clinics have a system in place that can get to cannabis quite quickly. But that doesn't mean the clinic's policy is aimed at recreational users - there are also patients who need access to cannabis really quickly, for example because of difficult-to-treat, epileptic seizures. "
However, Kierans adds that one of the other concerns about the consequences of a legal, cannabis system is the fact that someone can pick up cannabis only once and then use the official cannabis packaging as a trick to hide their own, who knows where to get marijuana .
Taxes on medical cannabis from the pharmacy
However, as Kierans explained, all prescriptions for medical cannabis are closely monitored by local provincial universities, and doctors pay close attention to who can use cannabis: “There are standard evaluations for narcotics to which all local clinics are subject. . Cannabis is therapeutically classified as a narcotic and must be treated as such by doctors. "
Therefore, if someone wants to be classified for taking prescription marijuana, they must first pass a comprehensive test designed to disqualify people, such as those prone to addiction.
People like Kieran, who are close to the health, cannabis system, do not agree with the new proposal to increase taxes. They show their protests, for example, in internet campaigns such as #DontTaxMedicine.
What is your opinion on the situation with us? Is pharmacy from pharmacies overpriced or cheaper than on the black market? Could a similar situation as in Canada, where the proposals for a unified tax standard are protested, occur in our country as well?
Source: leafly.com