#DontTaxMedicine / CFAMM

Salutations~

Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana or CFAMM for short is on a mission to help Canadian cannabis patients. From the CFAMM homepage:

 "OUR MISSION
We believe that when medically indicated, cannabis/marijuana should be: accessible, safe, affordable, reliable, and equally recognized as a prescription medication."

Damn straight~!
It feels so out of sync internally that cannabis is legal, safer than ever, more accessible than ever, and somehow now, when I have a prescription...impossibly out of reach to me financially.

I am not alone-

From this fantastic piece from CFAMM President- Gerald Major on www.healtheuropa.eu (that I highly recommend checking out) on the #DontTaxMedicine social media campaign started in 2017 and what it means to Canadians living with chronic ailments or treatable conditions who have to make hard choices with their budgets:

 "A patient in Alberta spending $600 (~€397) per month on medical cannabis will pay 24.3% ($145.80) in tax. For most Canadian patients, including myself, this means 24.3% under-dosing the physician-recommended dose. So, we have an amazing medicine that patients are having success with for various ailments, many of which are very severe, and these Canadian patients can’t afford their medicine." -Gerald Major

Prices vary from coast to coast and depending on your proximity to retailers, or online retailers- you are going to be paying some fairly major amount of tax- that if your prescription was, for example- opiate painkillers, you would not be paying.   Is this some new class of luxury drug, that shouldn't have the same consumer protections as ANY OTHER prescription?

The taxes and where / why / how they are applied is a political discussion I am not qualified to represent.  I just want my voice as a patient in need to be heard, while legislation is forming. - Sign an email to your local representatives HERE

With worrisome new proposals for the fall of 2019- and how to tax edibles, topicals and concentrates- there is discussion about charging the excise tax based on overall THC content- which would make medical options even more expensive than they are currently.   Raise your voice if you're worried about affordable access to medicine-

...But in a polite and Canadian sort of way. Eh?