Our proprietary consumer survey, conducted between March and May 2020, shows that over 15% of the Canadian adult population uses cannabis for medicinal reasons.
The survey covered patients using medical cannabis following a recommendation by a physician, as well as patients sourcing from adult-use dispensaries, friends, or the black market. As of September 2019, there were 369,614 medical cannabis registrations, although a single patient can have multiple registrations with different licensed producers.
Data shows that many users with health conditions source cannabis from legal recreational outlets, friends or the black market, and self-treat with limited medical supervision. Access by these quasi-medical users, generally employing cannabis to tackle mild conditions, is hindered by bureaucratic hurdles making access through other sources more straightforward, as well as by the lack of reimbursement policies making medical cannabis a more expensive option for patients than adult-use, black market or informal cannabis providers.
