Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens in Saint John
SAINT JOHN – A medical marijuana dispensary and resource centre has opened in uptown Saint John.
The Medicinal Grounds Cannabis Centre opened its doors Tuesday on Prince William Street. The centre offers various cannabis products as well as services and resource to help those without prescriptions secure them.
The centre’s owner Ryan Francis says with similar dispensary businesses already in Moncton and Fredericton, it was time for Saint John to have one.
“Our mission is to provide the community with reasonable access to medical marijuana, especially for the elderly, handicapped or veterans,” Francis said. “As of right now, they’re travelling out of town, out of province or waiting a week or two for it to arrive in the mail,”
The Centre offers everything from cannabis bud and oil to edibles and drinks. In order to purchase products from the centre, you must have a legitimate medical marijuana prescription and sign up for membership with the business, which has a 24-hour initial turn-around time to make sure all applications are proper. However if you don’t have a prescription, the centre can help guide potential customers through proper channels to help get them one.
“We try to do everything 100 per cent proper and by the books,” Francis said.
Naturally, opening a medical marijuana business comes with many legal hurdles to navigate. Francis says getting the business opened was a complicated process, but with the marijuana legalization on the horizon in Canada, dispensaries are only the beginning.
“The applications for marijuana are pretty much unlimited. You can make clothing, fuel and countless medications from marijuana and hemp. It’s going to be huge when they finally do legalize it. It’s going to boost the economy, bring money, bring jobs and actually help people,” he says.
“That’s our ultimate goal: to help people.”