The Grand Profitability of Cannabis

There's a woman in my city who is allegedly scripted forty-five grams of Cannabis a day.  Now, if this patient were fighting a serious ailment like Cancer and had to do so in a short period of time, I'd commend the Doctor who wrote it.  But it's not one script it's likely twelve to fifteen different scripts from that many different Doctors of eight to twelve grams each.  This is pretty easy to do actually, especially if you don't mind traveling or paying a few hundred bucks for one.  In Canada, the legal program is breaking new ground and saving lives and yet, there is absolutely no oversight from anyone of importance.

Licensed producers have been given free rein in so many ways.  Differing prices, different gram equivalencies, different carrier oils, different marketing swag, sign-up bonuses and welcome packages.  The gifts given upon registration to buy from one of Canada's licensed dealers is starting to feel like a toy in a happy meal.  The happiest meal you ever got!

Let me remind you, this is healthcare.  As a patient you can choose from now 44 different makers of your medicine.  None of it is paid for.  Some of it is discounted.  You can choose to pay $6 a gram or you can choose to pay $17.50 a gram.  Does price mean superior medicine?  And in that case, does financial disparity mean I must satisfy my need with medicine of lesser quality and efficacy?

Remember this is healthcare?

I don't even understand why they're given such freedom to decide such vital aspects of a medicine. It's as though Health Canada thought that passing the initial approval process was some indication that they were ready to provide medicine to all of Canada on a consistent basis with best practices and ethical standards.  Could any of them grow a cactus?  These corporations basically have a captive audience too.  They are fishing in a barrel as they say.  A barrel that coincidentally keeps getting smaller as more and more dispensaries are raided. Seniors are scraping by just so they can try a Cannabis oil that's mandated to be less than 3% active ingredient per milliliter.  From a business standpoint, these corporations should have to pay higher taxes because the customers are basically gifted to them by this outdated federal law.

And yet still every day new patients wait by the phone hoping to be booked for an assessment.  The appointment a new patient should have could be taken up by someone like the woman I mentioned above and no one would be the wiser.  At what point would OHIP start questioning numerous visits to legalizing clinics?  Is it like credit where your rating falters the more attempts to get legal you make?

The average monthly prescription is one gram per day for new users and depending on which producer you buy from and which ingestion method you choose, you could be looking at a range of about $150 - $525 per month for dried bud and about $175-$750 per month for oil.  So much profit on the prescription.  It's so counter to what the plant is really about.

The ACMPR is a beautifully crafted cyclically profitable entity that by now is helping to build revenue for businesses big, small, new, and old.  From greenhouse to packaging to shipping to swag this new program is a business dream.  So many players profiting from medicine.  So many patients now hooked on good health!

Hooked ... like fish in a barrel.