Grocery retailer Sobeys is getting into cannabis.
Sobeys’ parent company, Canadian grocery chain operator Empire Co. (TSX.EMP.A), is planning to provide cannabis access to its pharmacy customers after announcing a partnership with Pathway Health to develop a medical marijuana program.
Pathway Health will provide pharmacists who work for Empire's pharmacy businesses across a network of grocery chains that include Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland and FreshCo with a certified online training program to educate them on how medical cannabis can be prescribed.
Pathway Health will also provide Empire's pharmacists with a management system that can offer medical cannabis assessments to patients and connect them with a physician for further evaluation through either physical or virtual care.
Pathway Health will begin deploying its medical cannabis program throughout Empire-owned pharmacies in Nova Scotia, followed by a rollout across Atlantic Canada and the rest of the country later this year.
Medical cannabis usage in Canada has been on the decline since recreational cannabis was legalized in October 2018. There are 292,399 Canadians who had an active medical cannabis prescription in March of this year, down from a peak of 369,614 in September 2019.
Canada’s medical cannabis market was valued at approximately $445 million in 2020, representing roughly 15% of the total Canadian cannabis market.
Despite the relatively smaller market size compared to Canada's recreational cannabis space, medical marijuana has drawn interest from large companies such as Loblaw Co.'s (TSX.L) Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy chain that operates an online dispensary for patients.
Health Canada established a scientific advisory committee last year following a public consultation process in 2019 that sought feedback from Canadians on allowing certain cannabis products, including CBD-only items, for sale without the need for medical practitioner oversight.
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