For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 20, 2026
GREEN PARTY OF CANADA LAUNCHES MEDICAL CANNABIS PETITION
Victoria, B.C.: At the request of the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, the Green Party of Canada has started a petition to ask Health Canada to help form the B.C. College of Medical Cannabis Dispensers and to conduct research into high dose edibles. Still in the early stages of development, the B.C. College of Medical Cannabis Dispensers will seek to gain authorization to certify individuals to give advice on the medical use of cannabis and sign patients up to the federal medical cannabis program. The petition will be entered into the House of Commons in Ottawa in November 2026 by federal Green Party leader, Elizabeth May, where she will be accompanied by VCBC founder, Ted Smith.
In July, Elizabeth May wrote to Federal Minister of Health, Marjorie Michel, in support of the club. “VCBC helps address significant gaps in the federal medical cannabis framework, particularly for low-income patients who are unable to afford products available through the legal market…Reform is urgently needed to ensure that vulnerable patients are not deprived of effective and affordable care.”
Cannabis retailers across the country are expected to assist in the collection of signatures. Currently cannabis retailers are unable to provide medical advice without having a pharmacist, nurse practitioner or doctor physically onsite. Millions of people using cannabis for medical purposes currently purchase at legal retail stores where they are unable to get any advice about how to use cannabis as a medicine or any information about potential drug interactions. Once able to hire certified medical cannabis dispensers, retail stores will be able to dramatically improve patients health outcomes, which will increase sales.
The B.C. College of Medical Cannabis Dispensers is a recent project of the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club as it attempts to transition into the legal system without compromising its primary functions. By giving birth to this institution, the VCBC intends to formalize the responsibilities of a budtender in a compassion club into a medical professional that sits somewhere between a nurse, doctor, herbalist and pharmacist. To get this project off the ground, 14 different stakeholder groups ranging from doctors and researchers, to First Nations and compassion clubs, will work together to generate educational material, publish a research journal and standardize how patients learn about how to use cannabis as medicine.
For many years before legalization, cannabis educators have been doing their best to teach patients how to use this herb. According to certified medical cannabis consultant, Jennifer Collett, “…this project is long overdue because Canadians have been using cannabis as medicine for decades, yet our healthcare system still does not have a professional role specifically designed to provide patients with knowledgeable, evidence-informed guidance about cannabis therapeutics. Patients are navigating an increasingly complex range of cannabis products, formulations, routes of administration, dosing considerations and potential interactions, often without access to someone who has specialized training in cannabis medicine. At the same time, physicians and pharmacists have been placed in a system that was never designed to fully integrate cannabis into conventional medical practice.”
Additionally, the petition requests Health Canada begin seriously studying the benefits of high dose edibles for patients in persistent, chronic pain and/or fighting cancer. Current THC limits on legal edibles are 10 mg, which is very low for patients requiring up to 1,000 mg THC per day to fight cancer and/or avoid opiate drugs. Patients at the VCBC have been safely and effectively using high dose edibles for decades, with many finding relief from their symptoms they cannot get from other drugs.
A link to the Strategic Plan of the B.C. College of Medical Cannabis Dispensers is attached, as well as a link to the petition page of Elizabeth May, where you will find this petition in the Health and Wellbeing section.
Elizabeth May’s website
Strategic Plan
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KSRdnusqdhiYEljMR0GSP1XZxj_ycjOtN7Tnfg6UBkg/edit?tab=t.0
For more information contact Ted Smith at 250-415-1063 or exec.bccmcd@gmail.com.
