Employees at licensed cannabis retail stores get asked health-related questions all the time.

“We’re not allowed to give medical advice, which makes sense,” said Lisa Bigioni, CEO of Stok’d Cannabis. “We are not medical professionals.

Stok’d operates three stores in Scarborough and one in Niagara Falls at 5736 Stanley Ave., near Forsythe Street and Hwy. 420.

“We do get customers in our store who will ask us about different recreational cannabis that they would like to take but they’re on specific medications for different illnesses that we know nothing about,” Bigioni said.

“We don’t know anything related to drug interactions, so we’re always kind of saying we’re going to have to send you somewhere else and in the past we’ve just given customers a list of different cannabis medical clinics that we recommend that they call.”

But that has recently changed.

Stok’d has partnered with Apothecare, a pharmacist-led consultation service, to offer personalized cannabis advice to customers.

“They have the courses and the knowledge with respect to cannabis and drug interactions,” said Bigioni. “We now have a direct relationship and a direct line to seasoned and knowledgeable pharmacists that can speak with customers directly.”

A 2024 peer-reviewed study in BMC Medicine surveyed 5,433 Canadians who used cannabis for therapeutic purposes and found chronic pain (67 per cent), anxiety (63.6 per cent) and sleep issues (61.8 per cent) were the most common conditions treated.

But only 54.1 per cent of participants had medical authorization, which highlights a need for professional guidance in cannabis use.

“Many Canadians are turning to cannabis for therapeutic relief but they often struggle to find credible advice,” said Ajay Chahal, Apothecare co-founder, in a press release.

He emphasized the importance of professional oversight in cannabis use. “Our partnership with Stok’d bridges that gap, ensuring their customers have direct access to licensed pharmacists who can provide clear, evidence-based recommendations tailored to their individual health goals.”

Online and phone consultations are offered for customers who book appointments through the Apothecare website or visit any Stok’d outlet.

“This collaboration is a game-changer for those looking to incorporate cannabis into their wellness routine with confidence,” said Anushya Vijayaraghevan, Apothecare co-founder, in the release.

“Our mission is to empower individuals with the knowledge and guidance they need to make informed choices. By teaming up with Stok’d, we’re making cannabis advice more accessible than ever.”

Vijayaraghevan and Chahal are licensed pharmacists. Both graduated from University of Toronto in 2018, the same year cannabis was legalized for recreational use in Canada.

“We just kind of pre-emptively thought there are going to be patients coming into our community pharmacy asking questions and how do we handle this?” Vijayaraghevan said in an interview.

“Now we feel that there is this gap in care at the retail level. More and more people are walking into their local stores and they’re grabbing product and not knowing that there could be medication interactions with cannabis and what to be mindful of.”

Vijayaraghevan said she and Chahal started by training pharmacists at the pharmacy level.

“But we found that … pharmacists just don’t have the dedicated time to be spending 30 minutes with a patient,” she said. “These patients are very new to cannabis — there’s a lot of information to give out … and there are time restraints within the pharmacy setting.”

That’s when the two decided to go directly to consumers.

“Within the past couple of months or so, we’ve launched it at the retail level where we’re partnering with cannabis retailers across Ontario,” said Vijayaraghevan.

“We have a total of around 20 stores that we’re working with and more to be coming on board.” She said all Stok’d employees have been trained by Apothecare on how to refer customers to it.

“The stores that we actually partner with, we look at their menu of products that they carry and we ensure that whatever recommendation that we are making, if it is suitable for that customer, that they have it there at retail level,” said Vijayaraghevan.

“We try to make it seamless for the customers because otherwise these customers, they walk into a store and then a budtender or staff member will say, ‘Oh, you’ll have to speak to your doctor, we can’t answer those questions’ or they’ll say, ‘You can go the medical route if you’re looking to use it for a medical purpose.’”

She said many people don’t want to go the medical route.

“It’s very convoluted, there’s a lot of steps and then you have to wait for the product to get mail ordered to you, so there’s a huge lag time, especially for patients that have acute pain, they’re not going to really be wanting to wait that long,” said Vijayaraghevan.

“Or they may be referred back to their physician, but their physician isn’t trained in cannabis and its potential benefits, so a majority of the time customers are left in limbo, so we’re just there to really help support that gap in care.”