Sarnia-Lambton's lone medical marijuana clinic isn't worried about the coming legalization of cannabis in Canada.
Bodystream opened their doors back in July and held their grand opening on Friday. On a typical week they see around 35 to 40 patients and they don't expect that number to change once pot becomes legal.
Marketing Coordinator Erika Calhoun says there's a big difference between medical and recreational marijuana.
"I think there's definitely two different markets. When things go legal that's going to be geared more towards the recreational and I don't think that will affect us in any way," she says. "What I do think we might see happening more is that people's benefits might start covering this as a real medication. In that case, you'd still need a prescription and you'd need to come to a place like ours to get a prescription from a doctor."
As Calhoun explains, you don't have to get high to benefit from medical marijuana. She says a good majority of their patients use strains that have no euphoric side effects.
"Probably like 60 to 70 per cent just want to start with the CBD oil (no side effects) and just see how it goes," she says. "Sometimes when they come back for their reassessment they'll maybe try a little bit of the hybrid oil."
The majority of Bodystream's clients are senior citizens and the company typically doesn't see patients under the age of 25 without a referral from a doctor.
Calhoun says Bodystream makes it an easy process for those looking to benefit from medical marijuana, but it's not as simple as walking in off the street and claiming you have a sore back.
"You just need your health card to come see us and there's no cost to the patient. If you think you could be a candidate just give us a call or come on down to the clinic," she says. "We're going to get you started from start to finish. We'll help you get the documents you need, then we'll get you in front of the doctor where he or she would write a prescription if you're a candidate."
The Sarnia Bodystream clinic is one of 19 in Ontario and is located at 836 Upper Canada Dr.
