Canadian medicinal marijuana patients report feeling disadvantaged when it comes to access and pricing, a wrong that could be righted by ensuring that physicians who offer related consultations are covered under provincial plans.

“Right now, accessing medical cannabis is unnecessarily expensive and difficult, and people are being pushed back to the illicit market,” says Joel Taylor, co-founder of Patient Choice, a Health Canada-licensed online medical platform that this week issued previously unreleased poll results.

The survey results are based on an online study conducted by ResearchCo. in December 2019 and involving 1,000 adults.

Just like any other medical appointment, 70 per cent of general respondents and 91 per cent of medical cannabis respondents agreed that doctors who provide specialized consultations to patients considering using medical cannabis should be paid for by provincial health care plans.

Strong majorities for both general and patients respondents — in the range of 70 per cent to 82 per cent — also reported that doctors should offer patients a choice of products and suppliers, and that it would be a conflict of interest if clinics that prescribe medication to patients are paid directly by the medication producers.

The reported feelings of patients are likely only made worse if findings from a U.S. study are reflected in Canada. Released this summer, the study involving 1,000 primary care patients in Vermont, where medical cannabis has been legal since 2004, found that most don’t consider doctors to be a good source of information about cannabinoids. In fact, just 18 per cent of patients regarded physicians as a go-to source.

“Patients are getting the short end of the stick, so we’ve built something with freedom and fairness in mind for both patients and providers.” / Photo: Tero Vesalainen / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Photo: Tero Vesalainen / iStock / Getty Images Plus

The findings are worrisome given that 45 per cent of respondents had used cannabinoids in the past year, and most of those believed THC or CBD helped in treating a range of health issues such as arthritis, migraines and insomnia.

That jibes with findings from a Canadian study published in 2017 that found cannabis was being used by patients as a substitute for prescription drugs. “Cannabis is perceived to be an effective treatment for diverse conditions, with pain and mental health the most prominent,” the study abstract notes.

Access, though, was an issue. In all, 42 per cent of patients reported “accessing cannabis from illegal/unregulated sources, in addition to access via LPs,” it adds.

Patients reported “accessing cannabis from illegal/unregulated sources, in addition to access via LPs. / Photo: meanmachine77 / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Photo: meanmachine77 / iStock / Getty Images Plus

“Patients are getting the short end of the stick, so we’ve built something with freedom and fairness in mind for both patients and providers,” Taylor says in the statement from Patient Choice, which offers a platform that allows medical cannabis patients to buy their supply through a single platform.

Once a patient’s “medical document is securely registered with Patient Choice, there’s no need to re-register with different cultivators every time you want to try something new,” the company reports.

The platform carries a variety of different product formats, including flower, oils, tinctures and vapes, as well as growing materials like seeds and plants