Concerns raised over Saskatoon’s first medical pot dispensary

A Saskatchewan man is warning medical marijuana prescription holders to stay away from community dispensaries like the one that just opened up in Saskatoon.

“There are many concerns I have with dispensaries, there’s a big difference between Health Canada’s medicine and what you get at a dispensary,” Fred Glawischnig said.

“There’s a big difference between Health Canada’s medicine and what you get at a dispensary” – Fred Glawischnig

Glawischnig is the former CEO of Cannabis Solutions, a now defunct group who applied to be one of Health Canada’s licensed producers. Glawischnig is warning medical pot users of the dangers of relying on a dispensary, such as the lack of testing and quality control on products.

“The difference is one of them is made in laboratory-like conditions and the medicine goes through rigorous quality control measures,” he said, adding dispensaries aren’t held to the same standard.

Glawischnig added the quality of Health Canada’s medicinal marijuana is far more superior to anything patients can get at a dispensary.

Mark Hauk is the owner of the Saskatoon Compassion Club. He opened the doors 10 days ago and he’s already compiled a list of 200 clients; a majority who used to get their medical pot from Health Canada.

Hauk said every day he hears stories from now former Health Canada patients that remind him why he opened up shop.

“The amount of CannaMed patients we’ve had come in and it’s staggering and they always tell us the (Health Canada’s) product is not good– it comes to me radiated and mulched up and put into a pill bottle. So the fact that they’re saying their product is better, it’s just untrue,” Hauk said.

Hauk opened his dispensary up not to gloat about product quality; it was about helping prescription holders access the medicine they need without the hassle of ordering huge amount online only to wait weeks to receive something in the mail.

“The reality of the system is there are people who are card holders struggling to get their medicine. People in rural Saskatchewan, they are left to wonder for two to three weeks for a Purolator package to show up,” Hauk said, adding the limited number of licensed producers regulated by Health Canada aren’t always reliable.

“Some of these LPs run out of medicine altogether … Bedrocan, one of the biggest LPs was out of medicine for three weeks so people were forced to go to a dispensary or buy off the street.”

While shops like Hauk pick up the slack for Health Canada’s producers, Hauk also has a variety of products available for card carriers; Health Canada only delivers one kind of cannabis.

“There’s a number of people who don’t want to smoke their medicine, they want access to edibles they want access to oils none of these items are available from LPs.”

Hauk came forward to city council earlier this month asking them to be proactive in writing bylaws to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in Saskatoon. City officials agreed to look into regulating dispensaries and will report back on the possibility of introducing laws to make dispensaries legal in Saskatoon later this year.