Coming soon: Cannabis clinics that put physicians and pharmacists under one roof

A new Toronto pharmacy is gearing up for operations as a fully licensed cannabis medical clinic where patients can get services and advice from medical doctors and pharmacists—all trained and certified as cannabis educators. PBG Atria Pharmacy—owned by Leduc, Alta.-based biopharmaceutical company PBG BioPharma Inc.,—launched recently as a full-service pharmacy. But visitors who walk past the pharmacy area at the front of the new store will notice a number of clinical offices towards the back of the site. “Right now the pharmacy is open and the clinic is set to open in the coming months,” said PBG BioPharma president and CEO Jacqueline Shan, who was a co-founder 30 years ago of the company behind the supplement Cold-FX. “With this model we’re trying to provide better care and make it easier for patients who need CBD to get what they need in one location.” The cannabis clinic’s delivery model will include licensed pharmacists and medical doctors who specialize in chronic pain, mental health, addictions and geriatric care, said Shan. Because of current regulations in Ontario, prescriptions for medical cannabis cannot be filled in the pharmacy. Read: 3 years after legalization, we have shockingly little information about how it changed cannabis use and health harms However patients who come to the clinic will be able to consult with the on-site doctors and pharmacists. “Cannabis has different dosing and each species has a different kind of pharmacological effect,” said Shan, whose company manufactures nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, including medical cannabis. “That’s where the pharmacists and doctors’ knowledge is very important because they would know which brand is most suitable for a patient’s condition.” The clinic’s pharmacists are also likely to play a critical role in helping patients navigate health benefit claims and following up on their progress, she added. “Treatment with medical cannabis has to be managed and, in our view, this needs to be done by clinicians and healthcare professionals who are well-educated in medical cannabis, who can assess a patient’s condition, provide a prescription for the right form of CBD product, and then educate and support the patient,” she said. “What we’d like to see and build into our business model is not only to have a platform for credible physicians and pharmacists but also to provide patients with convenient access to education and follow-up.” Read: Medical cannabis FAQ PBG Atria’s clinic-and-pharmacy model could also ease the burden of paperwork for patients and healthcare providers, said Shan. “There’s a regulatory path for medical cannabis–patients have to be registered, the doctor has to be registered, and the product has to be authorized for medical use,” she said. “We want to take away some of that paperwork.” PBG BioPharma is currently in the process of putting together the team for its first medical cannabis clinic. Another clinic, to be located in Edmonton, is already in the works, said Shan. “Eventually we would like to have multiple locations in different cities, maybe also in Vancouver and in other parts of Ontario,” she said. Read: Pathway Health gives pharmacists a more active role in medical cannabis

Coming soon: Cannabis clinics that put physicians and pharmacists under one roof

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