About the Vancouver Dispensary Society

To become a member and become eligible to purchase medicinal cannabis products from our society, you must complete our application process.

First, read the forms which explain how to Become Eligible to Receive Services (part one) and (part two) Once you understand our procedures, you must fill out the Membership Application and Members Code of Conduct

We ask that your health care practitioner (physician, naturopath, or doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine) complete our Practitioner's Statement of Diagnosis and fax it to us directly from her/his office. (We will also accept Health Canada's Medical Marihuana Access Division authorizations.)

Your health care provider will need to see the Letter from the VDS which explains about our organization. They may also require a Medical Information Release Form and then s/he will be able to fax us the Practitioners Statement of Diagnosis

While many practitioners recognize the effectiveness of cannabis as a medicine, we realize that there are some who still may feel uncomfortable recommending cannabis or even completing the form. Some of them may fear professional repercussions or may not feel that they have enough knowledge about this herbal medicine. Depending on the condition (see below), a confirmation of diagnosis may be sufficient for membership, as long as the reasons stated for not recommending cannabis use are not of a medical nature.

The Release of Information form can be signed and given to your doctor to encourage them to send a confirmation of your medical condition, even if they will not fill in our form. Additionally, you can release your medical practitioner from any potential liability by providing a Health Canada Release Form for Medical Practitioners to your practitioner.

In order to maintain the confidentiality of our members and their health care providers, we are not able to refer you to doctors who have signed statements in the past. There are many compassionate doctors out there, and we encourage you to keep trying.

After we have received the necessary documentation from your practitioner, and it is confirmed, you will have met the criteria for membership.

Conditions for which confirmation of diagnosis only is accepted:

With the necessary documentation and verification, visitors who are members of other Canadian compassion clubs or holders of USA state licenses may visit the VDS for 30 days. Visitors are required to sign a document acknowledging some basic rights and responsibilities, including consenting to non-redistribution, and for those visiting from the USA, that the medicine they purchase from us is meant for their use while in Canada. After 30 days, visitors must become full members of the VDS if they would like to continue using our services. Please contact us to make arrangements for paperwork and verification before coming to visit us to ensure we will be able to serve you.

All new applicants must provide a 'passport-style' photo, certified by a third party as a true likeness of the applicant, i.e. a clear, current pic, head and shoulders, no hats or sunglasses, passport sized.

Please note: Our membership desk is closed on the weekend. Visitors to Vancouver need to ensure that their documents can be verified between Monday to Friday. You may fax, mail or email your documents ahead of your visit.

The Vancouver Dispensary Society was founded and registered as a non-profit society in September 2008. Our goal is to provide high-quality medicinal cannabis products to legitimate patients with a valid medical need.

We have two locations open to serve you: 880 East Hastings Street and 1182 Thurlow Street.

We are OPEN 11am-6:45pm every day, except some holidays.

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