Across North America, attitudes towards marijuana use, both
recreational and medical, are changing quickly. To the south of our
border, several U.S. states, including Washington, Colorado, Alaska
and Oregon, have legalized the recreational use of cannabis. In
Canada, while recreational use has yet to be legalized, the federal
government has, through the establishment of the Marihuana for
Medical Purposes Regulations ("MMPR"),
significantly relaxed the rules around access to marijuana for
medical purposes.
Pursuant to the MMPR, medical marijuana is accessible
to anyone who obtains a "medical document" from a
healthcare practitioner. The MMPR does not require a
prescription from a doctor. It does not require evidence of medical
examinations or an attestation that medical marijuana is the best
or only available treatment for the individual obtaining the
document.
