considering providing coverage in the not too distant future.
Companies such as Loblaw Companies Limited, Shoppers Drug Mart and Aurora have begun providing coverage to employees and in some cases their dependants. Similarly, unions such as the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and the Laborers’ International Union of North America have also begun to make coverage available. The dollars provided by these insurers, companies and organizations to assist patients in purchasing medical cannabis only exist in the medical market. Licensees who focus on employers, unions and insurance companies may be able to reap the benefit of registering large quantities of new patients at once, perhaps tens of thousands or more at a time, as opposed to having to target consumers individually as will be the case in the recreational market.
While members of the general public who are unfamiliar with cannabis may believe that legalization is all about getting high, those in the industry know that CBD products are, and will continue to be, in demand. Licensees who establish strong medical brands may find themselves better able to morph their established medical brand into one that easily gains consumers’ trust in health and wellness circles.
Medical patients are in effect “forced” to visit the licensee’s website to make a purchase as pick up at a pharmacy or retail location is not yet permissible. Once an individual is on the licensee’s website, the licensee is permitted to use the informational promotion exception in the Cannabis Act to provide information about the cannabis being sold and its characteristics in a manner that simply is not permitted in a retail store or elsewhere. While recreational focused brands will need to find a way to drive customers to their websites to provide information, medical patients have a built-in reason to visit on a regular basis. Having the medical patient’s information on file also will allow direct mailings to provide the patient with information about the company and its products, if done in the appropriate fashion.
Many are of the opinion that the products that will drive the industry and bring the biggest margins and profits are those that have not yet been created. As our population
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