Pasha Brands Supports Federal Petition Requesting a Reassessment of the Medical Cannabis Program and Exemptions for Unlicensed Compassion Clubs and Medical Dispensaries

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 18, 2019 /CNW/ -- Pasha Brands Ltd. ("Pasha") (CSE: CRFT) (OTC: CRFTF), Canada's largest craft cannabis brand house, last month called for the complete expungements of cannabis records, and a review of post-legalization enforcement. In the wake of raids on the nation's oldest compassion clubs and dispensaries, Pasha is now calling on the federal government to look into new models of medical access.

As legal adult-use is clearly failing to meet the needs of the same cannabis patients being left behind by the medical access program, and as an association of legal cannabis producers calls on the federal government to increase enforcement on brick and mortar and online illicit retailers, Pasha calls on the federal government to instead exempt Canada's earliest medical dispensaries, it's patients, and it's producers from the Cannabis Act, and to conduct a review of the current medical framework.

Several court cases have set precedents in Canada that have been largely ignored by successive governments. The right to access medical cannabis has been well-established by the courts, but this access is lacking.  Not all patients who require cannabinoid-based medicine have access to online sales, fixed addresses, credit cards, or the funds required to purchase their medicine. For these reason and others, the recommendations following both R. v. Smith and Allard v. Canada touted the benefits of storefront access at dispensaries and compassion clubs.

What's more, access to medical cannabis is protected under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This access is also meant to include 'protection from delay'. The 2002 Report of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs found that medical dispensary practices were in line with therapeutic indications, and that moving forward, Health Canada should work with compassion clubs, rather than against them. By the Senate's own recommendations, these outlets should be part of Canada's existing medical cannabis framework.

Pasha supports this petition calling on the federal government to take action on these now 17-year-old recommendations by supporting and encouraging the development of new models of access; to undertake a full review of the current state of medical cannabis access while including the organizations that inspired and impressed the Senate Committee in 2002; and to grant exemptions to medicinal dispensaries, their patients, and suppliers as the review is ongoing.

Pasha has focused on getting existing farmers into the legal adult-use market, but recognizes the need for improved medical access. "The pre- and post-legalization gold rush on both licit, and illicit, sides of the industry has skewed our understanding of what it means to safely access cannabis," says Jamie Shaw, Pasha's Chief Communications and Culture Officer. "The current framework fails patients, and without proper medical access, they are forced to purchase their medicine from the illicit market or go without. We hope that by gaining MP support for this petition, the public will get a chance to remind the federal government that it was medical patients that carved the path that we're on today, and it is they who still bear the brunt of bad policy."

The petition (e-2301) can be read here: https://www.pashabrands.com/petition-to-the-government-of-ca/

and has been filed with the House of Commons, and currently awaits MP support.

About Pasha Brands

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Pasha is a vertically integrated, prohibition-era brand house firmly rooted in BC's craft cannabis industry, which boasts an international reputation. With proven capabilities in cannabis cultivation, genetic research and development, product processing, and retail, Pasha is uniquely positioned in the new legal cannabis market through its network of hundreds of craft cannabis suppliers under the Pasha umbrella.

Pasha subsidiary, Medcann Health Products Ltd., is a Health Canada licensed cultivator and processor with a licence to sell medical cannabis products in Canada.

Pasha, and its subsidiary BC Craft Supply, are also developing a craft cannabis campus, which is dedicated to bringing craft quality into the newly legal cannabis market in Canada. BC Craft is driven to assist craft growers in obtaining security clearance and licensing to grow as micro-cultivators, specializing in education and compliance to bring growers into the regulated cannabis supply market.

Pasha's common shares trade on the CSE under the symbol "CRFT" and on the FSE under the symbol "ZZD".

For more information, please visit www.pashabrands.com 

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.

Media & Investor Relations Contact

Emerald Asuncion
[email protected]
[phone]

Jamie Shaw
Chief Communications and Culture Officer
[phone] (x427)

SOURCE Pasha Brands Ltd.