How ironic, it the midst of multiple “non-essential” business and services closing not only in Ontario, but all across Canada, multiple provinces have deemed the cannabis sector as essential, and have ordered them to remain open. We’re talking about regulated cannabis stores and producers, whom of which will not be required to close their doors.

It’s ironic because not long ago, cannabis was illegal in Canada, and possession as well as use was a criminal offence. My, how times have changed, and for anybody who knows anything about medical marijuana, closing peoples access to their cannabis would be no different from preventing access to medicine for sick people. It’s the exact same thing with cannabis.

According to longitudinal data published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, Israeli Researchers found that the use of medicinal cannabis and medicinal cannabis products in patients 65 years or older has a very positive effect. For the study, patients of the required age were given cannabis for an 18 month period. These participants suffered from a number of ailments, including cancer, chronic pain, sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress, spasticity, and many other ailments. You can read more about that here.

It’s one of hundreds of studies and examples now showing how vital cannabis is for many people around the world.

This is definitely a big relief for the older crowd.

According to Marijuana Business Daily:

Ontario released a list late Monday identifying the essential workplaces allowed to remain open.

About half of Canada’s federal license holders (142 of 337) are located in Ontario, including 100 cultivators.The closure of Ontario’s cannabis cultivators – and the shut-in of their greenhouses – would have been difficult to overcome for many large growers that already were struggling to keep the lights on before the pandemic hit.

The largest among them, including Canopy Growth in Smiths Falls and Tilray in Leamington, have lost billions of dollars since cannabis was legalized in Canada in late 2018.

Along with regulated cannabis stores and producers, their supply chains are considered essential and might continue to operate after putting in place “any and all measures to safeguard the well-being of their employees.”

That applies to workplaces supplying those businesses with support, supplies, systems or services – including processing, packaging, distribution, delivery and maintenance – that are necessary to operate.

The list of essential businesses applies to roughly 50 regulated adult-use cannabis stores in the province as well as their supply chains.

So, if you’re worried about cannabis and your supply in the middle of this outbreak, don’t be! It’s best to grow your own in the end, that way you’ll always have a supply and know exactly what’s in your cannabis.