More Canadian Employers Need To Cover Medical Marijuana
Jenna Valleriani PhD Candidate in Sociology and the Collaborative Program in Addiction Studies at the University of Toronto, April 6, 2017
Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws recently made headlines by announcing they will cover medical cannabis for their employees. This is a strong first step for Canada’s largest pharmacy chains, and sets a precedent which should be followed by other employers.
But the devil is always in the details. While these two chains should be praised for their progressive steps forward, we also need to ask who this coverage is provided for, how much is being covered, as well as how this fits with the overall long-term strategy to position pharmacies as the front-line dispensers of medical cannabis.