How to Keep Your Home With A Shield

Seeing Green

I spoke on the radio earlier this week about landlords not wanting their tenants to ingest marijuana in rental units. Much of this is focused on the plan to legalize recreational marijuana in the summer of 2018, but a distinction needs to be made regarding recreational versus medical cannabis.

Having access to medical marijuana when it is prescribed to you is a Human Right in Canada. People cannot keep you from your medical cannabis the same way they cannot keep you from your insulin. When recreational cannabis is legalized in a few months, the only place that the Ontario Government is currently letting it be ingested is in your private home. If the landlord stipulates that you cannot ingest marijuana in your apartment, where does that leave you?

There’s No Place Like Home

A recent story in the news reveals that property owners and landlords may be seeking to evict those who intend to use cannabis recreationally. Many people currently use cannabis for medical purposes without a medical cannabis authorization and see the upcoming July date as a license to use cannabis for symptoms such as anxiety, depression, pain and sleep issues.  This is a dangerous assumption as you may use cannabis for medical purposes, but there will be many people and organizations eager to punish your non-medical use. If you have an authorization you cannot be discriminated against by your landlord. If you are not prescribed then you may be able to be evicted, fired or charged as you are at their mercy.

Shield Yourself

You do not want to get lumped in with recreational cannabis when it comes to your freedoms to ingest in your home and other public places. This freedom to ingest and medicate freely at home also extends to other public places where tobacco products could also be ingested. Carrying your medical cannabis authorization card provides you with an added layer of security when dealing with your HR department, landlord or the authorities. An added benefit of being a card-carrying member at MMC is having access to a cannabis-therapy-trained-nurse on call 24/7 if you have any questions or want a healthcare professional to verify your authorization with anyone you need.

To protect your rights to access cannabis for medical reasons, your rights to use it at work or outside your home, your rights to keep your job, to not be arrested, and to not be evicted it is suggested you get your medical cannabis authorization right away. In the coming months insurance and government programs may fund your medical cannabis and having an established record of medical necessity will make a case for coverage stronger; if you use cannabis medically and never get a script your insurance can say your request for medical cannabis coverage is denied due to lack of history.

The best time to get a medical cannabis authorization was yesterday. The second best time is today, so call us at: 1-844-312-5143 or email us at associates@medmc.ca to begin the process of obtaining your medical cannabis authorization.

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Tony Smilis is the Host of Cannabis Corner and speaks on media channels about Cannabis therapy and fair access to Canadians. He was recently featured on the radio discussing controversial move by landlords to seek authorization to evict recreational cannabis users.

 

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