What Does Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) Mean?
In Canada, the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) put forth by the federal government replace the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) on March 31, 2014. As of April 1, 2014, these replacement regulations were the only legal means for Canadians to provide and use medical marijuana. Since replacing the MMAR, the MMPR have been revised again, this time becoming the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR).
The Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations put forth by the Canadian government for roughly two years, from 2014 to 2016, enabled patients who are legally licensed and approved to use marijuana in order to tend to their specific medical illnesses or conditions.
While the prior regulations (MMAR) only catered to the sale of dried marijuana, these newer regulations extended the reach. The MMPR allowed licensed cannabis producers to provide licensed patients with medical marijuana. Plus, there have been recent amendments which have allowed the patients to turn their cannabis into products such as edibles and cannabis oil. In order to be a licensed medical marijuana patient, it is imperative that the patients have a health care practitioner complete a medical form which is to be submitted to licensed producers along with a completed registration form.
Maximum Yield Explains Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR)
Though the MMPR was put into practice starting July of 2013, it officially replaced the MMAR from April 1, 2014. MMPR is a set of Canadian regulations that looks over the use, production, and distribution of medical marijuana from licensed producers to licensed patients and consists of three main activities. These include the possession of dried cannabis for medical use by licensed patients, the production of such dried cannabis by licensed producers, and the distribution of dried cannabis by licensed dealers to licensed patients.
Under these regulations, the licensed producers were expected to uphold proper security of production, such as proper production practices, packaging, labeling, shipping, record keeping, reporting, and distribution of the medicinal dried marijuana. In addition, the producers would also be subject to Health Canada inspections.
Despite prior regulations, the main benefits of adopting MMPR include the reduction in safety and security risks posed by cannabis cultivation at homes, the reduction in program administrative costs, and benefits to producers due to a higher market price and a reduction in economic inefficiency.
While some parts of the MMPR became effective, the law was ruled out as unconstitutional by the Federal Courts because the patients were said to be unable to grow their own medication. So, this triggered the need for a new act, now known as the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, or ACMPR, which were put into place in 2016.
