TORONTO, June 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hope for Health has officially launched and is proud to be the first cannabis-focused registered charity in the world, focusing exclusively on promoting health, providing education about medical cannabis and ensuring affordable access to medical cannabis under the Cannabis Act.
In Canada, patients continue to experience obstacles accessing the federal medical cannabis program. Affordability remains a key concern among Canadian patients, where many are unable to access a sufficient quantity of regulated cannabis, an issue that has been intensified by the introduction of the excise tax on medical cannabis. Due to the lack of a Drug Identification Number, cannabis is not often covered by private insurers, forcing patients on limited income to choose between cannabis and other necessities.
Through charitable donations, Hope for Health will establish a core financial affordability program. The focus will be on empowering patients to be able to effectively manage their health, while also offering autonomy on which cannabis producer and products to choose from. Hope for Health’s program focuses on providing a monthly spending stipend, renewable annually, to qualified registered patients, which can be used to purchase cannabis from one of 100+ federally licensed processors in Canada. The program seeks to onboard 150 registered medical cannabis patients in its first year.
Hope for Health will seek to provide quality and objective education to health care providers on the medical uses of cannabis. It will also work to establish medical cannabis research partnerships across Canada and mobilize that research from the academic and medical communities to ensure it gets into the hands of people and organizations who can put it to practical use.
The charity was started by Hugo Alves, Michael Lickver and Vlad Klacar when they were lawyers at Bennett Jones LLP, with the support of Glen Fraser, Maruf Raza and David Danziger of MNP LLP, as a way to give back to the cannabis community by supporting medical access and advancing research and knowledge about medical cannabis. After leaving Bennett Jones to start Auxly Cannabis Group, Hugo, Mike and Vlad enlisted the help of Dr. Jenna Valleriani to continue bringing the concept to life. Hope for Health is thrilled to announce the permanent appointment of Dr. Jenna Valleriani as Executive Director. Dr. Valleriani recently completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the BC Centre on Substance Use and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, where her program of research focused on vulnerable communities and access to cannabis. With over ten years’ experience in the non-profit sector and contributions to academic research, government dialogue and public commentary, Dr. Valleriani has become a leading voice in local, provincial and international cannabis policy development.
“This is such a tremendous and exciting opportunity to improve the health and well-being of Canadians who are unable to access the medicine they need,” explained Valleriani. “My research and advocacy have always underscored issues around access to cannabis, and the financial affordability program will set a new standard on how we can work together to help to alleviate those barriers.”
Hope for Health is also thrilled to announce the appointment of the Board of Directors whose diverse expertise and strategic knowledge will help strengthen the organization’s impact across Canada, including leading cannabis industry pioneer and lifelong patient access advocate, Hilary Black, Chief Advocacy Officer of Canopy Growth Corporation. “As patients wait for research to advance and for cannabis to become an approved and covered medicine, patient advocacy remains crucial,” explained Black, “It’s a privilege to join this board to collaborate with this team of leaders to support Canadian patients.”
Hugo Alves, Co-Founder and Director, commented: “We started the Hope for Health project three years ago because we believed it was an important cause that all industry participants that have benefited from the cannabis industry could rally around and support. When we founded Auxly, we realized that it was critical that Hope for Health remain completely independent and run by a group of strong leaders who care deeply about the charity's goals. We quickly identified Jenna as the right leader and are delighted to work alongside her and the rest of the board members in moving the charity forward. Auxly is proud to provide the charity with a cornerstone donation to get it operational and moving forward; we invite the rest of the cannabis industry to support Hope for Health to achieve its goals for the benefit of patients, the advancement of cannabis knowledge and the industry as a whole.”
About Hope for Health
Hope for Health is an independent registered charity dedicated to providing compassionate coverage of medical cannabis costs in Canada. To learn more about Hope for Health, visit www.hopeforhealth.ca or contact info@hopeforhealth.ca.