Many doctors are apprehensive about prescribing medical marijuana, which is one of the reasons why the area's first cannabis clinic is set to open in Windsor.
Canadian Cannabis Clinics is launching its sixth site in all of Ontario, the nearest one being London.
Director Ronan Levy says Windsor is an under-serviced area.
"When you're dealing with a somewhat blue-collar town that has a manufacturing base, a lot of people have a lot of chronic injuries from repetitive actions, repetitive strain injuries," he says. "While there are lots of great medications out there, cannabis is now an option that helps a lot of people and people we see typically come to us as an option of last resort."
Just this week the company signed a lease at 1883 Turner Rd., already a medical building.
A part of the process is also educating local physicians about cannabis, something Levy says most don't fully understand. Right now any doctor in Canada can prescribe medical marijuana.
"Most doctors don't feel comfortable prescribing cannabis. Cannabis is a bit of a unique animal when it comes to medications and treating patients because with most pharmaceuticals dosage is very specified and controlled -- cannabis, it's hard to dose," he says.
Sometimes the perception is cannabis clinics offer an avenue for people to abuse the system and obtain marijuana when it's not needed. But Levy says the clinic has a rigorous process before someone even sees a physician. Also, he says, there isn't any marijuana on site.
The clinic is set to open at the end of September.