Medicinal cannabis users in Saskatchewan can now order online from the largest pharmacy chain in Canada.

Starting Tuesday, Shoppers Drug Mart has expanded its online platform to provide Saskatchewan residents with front-door registered mail delivery of dried cannabis or oil to be ingested orally. Shoppers launched the platform, Medical Cannabis by Shoppers, in Ontario in January and expanded in April to include Alberta.

Under the current legalization legislation, pharmacies are not allowed to dispense medical cannabis.

But would-be-purchasers turning online still have to get medical authorization first, by requesting a medical document from a healthcare professional and submitting it to a Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy.

Mike Boivin, a pharmacist and member of Shoppers Drug Mart’s advisory board on medical cannabis, said even before taking that step, speaking with a doctor about whether medical cannabis is the right option is crucial.

“For medical cannabis, the issue that we have for a lot of people is having access,” he said.

“Not only to be able to find the product, but also be able to get the insight and the expertise that they require to be able to take this product effectively.”

Cannabis by Shoppers has a call centre that provides informal counselling and has also has partnered with Telehealth to provide online medical consultation. According to Statistics Canada, while over 1.1 million Canadians use cannabis for medical purposes, more than 800,000 do so using non-medicinal cannabis and without the guidance of a healthcare professional.

“The cannabis that is bought from a legal retailer is fine. It’s meeting very high quality standards,” Boivin said.

“It’s for a totally different purpose, while medical cannabis users are using it to help lower their symptoms from chronic conditions.”