Medical marijuana might soon be making its way into being sold at dispensaries in the downtown area of Summerside, in Prince Edward Island. Craig Gaudet is planning to open a health center in the area and he intends to sell medical marijuana at the location.
This would be the first medical marijuana dispensary in the province. “What we are opening is a whole health and wellness [center]… it is based on medical marijuana, but it is also going to have yoga, tai chi, massage, holistic healing, Chakara, herbalist healing, [and not] just the dispensary,” says Gaudet about the upcoming location. Gaudet himself is well aware of the medicinal benefits to be had from cannabis, as he himself has been using the plant now for well over 15 years.
Gaudet was injured in an accident over 27 years ago when his legs were crushed after an automobile accident. In his lifetime he has had dozens of surgeries on his knees. Medicinal marijuana is what helps Gaudet to find comfort and relief where prescription drugs have failed him. He admits that since using cannabis to treat his symptoms, he no longer uses the other drugs. Following the recent move of the Supreme Court to side with medical marijuana patients, Gaudet says that he believes that he has the right to open-up his health and wellness center. “The Supreme Court of Canada made it quite clear a couple of weeks ago that patients have the right to sell to other patients,” he says.
However, despite promises from the Liberal government to legalize, and moves from the courts to uphold the rights of users, dispensaries across the country continue to be raided. In Prince Edward island, there aren’t any licenses that have been issued by Health Canada which would stipulate authorization for selling cannabis. Gaudet still has to apply for a permit from the city in order to begin operations with his new business. Gaudet hopes that his center will open without any hiccup. He has been working with the mayor and Chief Dave Poirier in regards to his plans for his business, but Poirier says that for now it doesn’t look like Health Canada will be approving any licenses for this sort of dispensary that Gaudet has plans to open. Regardless, Gaudet still has plans to move forward and apply for the permit from the city relatively soon.