Windsor's Pot Clinic Remains Without Doctor

Windsor's first ever medical marijuana clinic is busy, but still remains without a doctor after opening in October. The clinic has seen more than 600 patients using an out-of-town doctor or connecting with a physician through video. Canadian Cannabis Clinics Director Joseph del Moral says the clinic is constantly educating local doctors on when to prescribe medical marijuana. "There's a thirst for knowledge amongst local doctors," he says. "There are a lot of doctors who just feel they don't know enough to prescribe and those doctors are taking advantage of our clinic and referring other patients to see us." Roughly half of those patients the clinic sees, he says, have already tried marijuana illegally, found it effective and want a prescription. "The reasons why people try to get medical cannabis, one; it's legal and two; license producers are producing strains that are hard to find in street cannabis," del Moral says. "Also they're obviously producing it in pharmaceutical-type conditions." The cannabis clinic is located at 1883 Turner Rd. near Windsor Regional Hospital and patients must get a referral to get in. Officials also want to make it clear that medical marijuana isn't dispensed at the clinic, it's strictly meant for consultations. And even when you get in, receiving a prescription isn't easy. "Our doctors won't diagnose anything in the clinics, they'll rely on you coming in with records, proving your diagnoses," he says. "Then we need to have information about conventional treatments that you've tried (because) medical cannabis isn't a first-line treatment for anything." Canadian Cannabis Clinics has nine locations across Ontario.