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Originally Posted by MindBomber

I would go to an iMediKate physician, but the website specifically states that they cannot refer you to a doctor. Am I missing something?

I would expect any doctor to charge a small fee for filling out the health Canada form, since my understanding is that it's not billable to MSP. As long as they aren't clearly trying to profit from the controversial nature of my request, I have no problem paying.

You should backtrace the thread a bit and you'll find out how this works. Basically at iMed and WestCoast they have on site "Doctors" that will fill sign off the forms for you. What you are thinking about (medical card from health Canada) is a completely and totally different thing. When we are talking about the dispensaries that are around the greater Vancouver area, we are talking about compassion club memberships. These are not operated by the government, and has absolutely no affiliation with Health Canada. They operate on a cash basis, and it costs 60$ to see the in house physican. They will talk to you about your problem and basically ask you if smoking helps your condition. If it does, then you are accepted and you are allowed to buy marijuana at the locations. These do not give you any legal rights to possess, but there are a great selection of dispensaries all over the place. The reason why there are so many compassion clubs all around Vancouver is because the police understand that there are legitimate reasons that people smoke marijuana- it helps with many conditions. They also understand the slow process that it takes for health Canada to actually issue you a medical marijauna card (the one that actually allows you to posses). There is a huge backlog and it takes about a year to a year and a half for the whole process. At the same time you need to have a SPECIALIST sign off on the form saying that you have tried every single OTHER ALTERNATIVE (that means much harmful pharmaceutical drugs). If you are interested in trying to apply for one I have posted the links several pages back or you can find them easily on the Health Canada. The benefit of getting a Health Canada card is obvious - you get to carry legally and you can easily apply for grower status that allows you to grow more then enough for yourself, or apply to have someone grow for you. But the process is long and tedious, and you need to renew it once a year. There is also a fee involved. The compassion club is an easy way to avoid having to deal with the black market in order to get your medicine in a safe environment. These people are friendly and understand what you are going through. They usually have a good selection and also carry edibles.

I have to say though, these physicians do not have real doctor degrees and are often doctors of alternative medicines. They usually offer different approaches to your problem over conventional medicine usually through more long term treatments and less aggressive diagnosing (such as dietary changes, chiro, chinese medicine, etc)

I agree with Canada's stance right now on dispensaries- it really helps patients as long as people don't abuse it. iMed even delivers for a fee of 10$. iMed has opened a new location recently as well. I think they got to 1000 members pretty quickly.