Toronto’s board of health is asking the Trudeau government to change medical marijuana rules so pharmacies can dispense pot to patients. 

The pitch is aimed in part at deterring people from going to illegal dispensaries, which have spread across Toronto over the past year. 

The board passed a motion this week telling the federal health and justice ministers that the government should allow pharmacies to dispense medical marijuana with the “intent of providing patients with improved care and safety, and providing municipalities, including Toronto, with needed support in addressing issues associated with illegal dispensaries so often posing as legitimate medical operations.” 

Under current Health Canada regulations, medical marijuana can only be distributed by mail. 

The motion was prompted by Eglinton-Lawrence Councillor Christin Carmichael Greb, who said in a letter that police in Toronto are “struggling to manage the real danger of illegal dispensaries” and that immediate reforms are needed. 

“As more and more of these criminal operations open, patients and residents are increasingly confused and put at risk,” it reads. 

Parkdale-High Park Councillor Sarah Doucette said this week that patients probably wouldn’t “completely stop” going to dispensaries if Ottawa lifted the prohibition on marijuana sales through pharmacies, but it would help speed up access so patients don’t have to wait for days to get their cannabis through the mail. 

“Right now we have people going to illegal marijuana dispensaries in my ward to get medical marijuana,” she said. “ I don’t know exactly what they’re getting.” 

At a Toronto Star editorial board meeting last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed frustration with the proliferation of dispensaries in Canada over the past year and urged police to “enforce the law.” 

Toronto’s health board will also forward its recommendation to the Liberal’s pot point-man, MP Bill Blair.  A long awaited consultation report from the government’s high-profile marijuana “task force” advising on how best to change the laws to allow for recreational pot use is due out later this month. 

It’s clear that at least one major pharmacy chain wants in on medical marijuana distribution, but lobby groups also have been pushing for pharmacy distribution.  The Canadian Pharmacists Association and the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada’s marijuana task force submissions argue that pharmacies are well positioned to start distributing medical cannabis to patients. 

The Cannabis Canada Association, formerly called the Canadian Medical Cannabis Industry Association, which represents established companies currently distributing medical cannabis, has suggested that pharmacies wouldn’t be able to stock all the different strains of cannabis used, and warned that removing the mail-order system could increase prices.