ACMPR

ACMPR - New Medical Marijuana Regulations

The New Health Canada Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) Highlights:

On August 24, 2016, Health Canada released the new Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR), which are now in effect. There are some significant changes/amendments made to the previous 2013 Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR). The finer details and analysis of the ACMPR will following in the coming days/weeks. For now we have listed some the most notable changes to the repealed MMPR.

Authorized patients can choose to purchase their medical marijuana from licensed producers (like the previous MMPR), grow for themselves, or designate a grower (like the former MMAR).

Patients interested in medical marijuana must get a medical document from an authorized health care professional, which specifies a period of use (up to 1 year), and the daily recommended quantity of marijuana in grams.

For those interested in home growing or designating a grower, authorized patients with a doctor's prescription must register with Health Canada. More information on registration and application froms.

Both indoor and outdoor growing is permitted for registered patients. And, the production of plants can be both partial indoor and partial outdoor.

"In general, every one (1) gram of dried marijuana authorized will result in the production of five (5) plants indoors or two (2) plants outdoors. Individuals must indicate in their application whether they intend to produce marijuana plants indoors, outdoors, or partial indoors/partial outdoors. Individuals seeking to produce outdoors must confirm that the production site is not adjacent to a school, public playground, daycare or other public place mainly frequented by children."

The number of plants a patient can grow is based on the amount of grams in a prescription from the doctor. For example, someone with a prescription for the use of 1 gram of medical marijuana per day, can grow 5 plants indoors, or 2 plants outdoors.
Health Canada estimates that 1 indoor plant will likely produce 30 grams of cannabis, with 3 crops in 1 year, and 1 outdoor plant will produce 250 grams of marijuana in 1 year.
If the production of plants is partial indoors/partial outdoors, every 1 gram per day of dried marijuana = 4 plants indoors and 1 plant outdoors.

Licensed producers are the only legal source of genetic starting materials, such as seeds and clones. Only registered patients will be able to buy starting materials from licensed producers (1 plant = 3 seeds).

"Under the former MMAR, the only option to acquire starting materials was seeds obtained from Health Canada. In addition, individuals who were authorized to possess marijuana for their own medical purposes could only purchase an interim supply of dried marijuana from Health Canada while waiting for their production to be ready. The ACMPR permit newly registered persons to register with any of the producers licensed by Health Canada using a copy of their Health Canada registration certificate to obtain starting materials (seeds or plants) for production, and/or an interim supply of fresh or dried marijuana or cannabis oil while their own production is established."

Registered home growers will be able to take their medicine, for product safety testing, to laboratories that are accredited by Health Canada. More information on authorized laboratories for testing.

Individuals authorized to use cannabis for medical purposes by a health care practitioner can register with multiple producers. The current ACMPR explicitly allows doctors to split gram per day totals among various producers.

Another notable change from the former MMAR is that registered persons, as well as designated persons, will have the ability to alter the dried marijuana they harvest into other products, such as oils. In doing so, individuals are prohibited from using organic solvents (e.g., butane), due to the health and safety risks posed by use of these products.

Storefront operations selling marijuana, commonly known as “dispensaries” and “compassion clubs” are not authorized to sell cannabis for medical or any other purposes.

Click here > to read the statement from Health Canada concerning access to cannabis for medical purposes. This press release has relevant and important links to more detailed information on the new ACMPR regulations, at the bottom of the press release.

New ACMPR /Medical Marijuana regulations are now available @ the Canada Gazette.
→ Click here