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When Calgary senior Barb Weatherington replaced fentanyl patches with cannabis to treat her chronic spinal pain, it seemed an ideal exchange.

But with legalization of recreational cannabis threatening to bring a nearly 17 per cent federal excise tax into the medical marijuana equation in Alberta, the attractiveness of that switch dimmed, she said.

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“The fact I’ve been able to get off fentanyl, they seem to be penalizing me for doing something different, something much better,” said Weatherington, 78, who gradually increased doses of CBD oil to fully phase out Fentanyl about a month ago.

“I think it stinks.”

She fears that excise tax, if applied to her medication, could boost the now $90-a-month cost to treat the pain of her spinal stenosis — a narrowing of the channel housing the spinal cord.

The woman said she’s already noticed fewer side-effects from the CBD compared with fentanyl, though the opioid costs far less, about $17 a month.