According to a report in the Toronto Sun, medical marijuana could soon be covered by health insurance in Canada.
The Sun, citing industry experts, noted that following the newly announced Health Canada rules that allow the sale of cannabis oil, insurers could one day foot the bill for Canadians prescribed marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Health Canada announced new medical marijuana regulations following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that permitted consumption of medical marijuana in the form of oils and edibles.
Khurram Malik, analyst at Jacob Securities, told the Toronto Sun that insurance companies will slowly start to creep into the sector.
Experts also note that the changes announced by Health Canada mark a major step towards making marijuana legal in the eyes of doctors and insurers.
The development is significant for Bedrocan Cannabis Corp. (TSX-Venture:BED), a Toronto-based company focused on clinical research, technologically-advanced, automated production processes, and innovative product development.
BED, along with its licensor Bedrocan Beheer BV of Netherlands are the only companies in the world that currently have the capability of producing standardized full-bud, pharmaceutical-grade medicinal cannabis.
This morning, Bedrocan announced that it has received a license agreement from Health Canada, which allows for the sale of BED’s domestically produced medical cannabis. The company noted that it has been growing six proprietary genetic strains of standardized cannabis at its new production facility since February and eight harvests have already been completed successfully. BED is also in a position to take orders for sales of its existing inventory.
Bedrocan also confirmed that Health Canada has approved eight more growing rooms at its production facility in the Greater Toronto Area. The company noted that a total of 26 of 34 production rooms are now licensed, providing for production capacity of 3,000 kilograms per year.
Commenting on the development, Marc Wayne, President and CEO of Bedrocan Cannabis, said that the company is excited to be able to provide Canadian-grown, standardized cannabis to its registered patients. Wayne further said that the company has now transitioned its business successfully and on schedule from its reliance on imported Bedrocan products to managing its own domestic production to meet the specific needs of its growing population of medical cannabis patients.
Wayne added that the company will now focus on expanding its market, medical outreach and education initiatives, emphasizing the value and advantages of its standardized, pharmaceutical grade medical cannabis products.
