A clinic for potential medical marijuana users is expected to open in Burlington later this month.

Toronto-based Canadian Cannabis Clinics had hoped to open in Burlington on Nov. 10 but logistical issues have pushed it back to the week of Nov. 23, said lawyer Ronan Levy, one of the business' directors and its general counsel.

The clinic will be located in the medical professional building at 3155 Harvester Rd., east of Guelph Line.

The clinic is for people already using medical marijuana or those who might end up using it.

"The people who come to see us are quite sick," said Levy.

"Any patient that contacts us directly will be asked to get a referral from their family physician or specialist. If the family physician or specialist refuses to give a referral, we will accept self-referrals."

If the documentation received is in order, an appointment will be made.

"We ask for treatment history because cannabis is not a first-line therapeutic agent, which means we need to believe that conventional treatment has failed before cannabis can be considered."

Staff will include a physician, receptionist, nurse or an international medical graduate. An IMG is a doctor licensed to practice in another country but not yet in Canada.

"They will conduct the physical exam and a cannabis counsellor will provide education, strain selection advice and help patients register with a licensed medical pot producer."

Levy said appointments with the clinic's doctor and counsellor are covered by OHIP but patients are not reimbursed for the cost of their medical pot.

He stressed that the clinic does not keep medical marijuana on its premises.

The Burlington clinic is expected to support up to 3,000 patients.

The clinic is transferring to Burlington after a short run earlier this year at a previous location in Oakville.

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CanvasRx Holdings Inc. is the name of the corporate entity that owns the clinic.

The company operates nine such clinics with the others being in Toronto, Whitby, Etobicoke, London, St. Catharines, Kitchener, London, Ottawa and Windsor.