CALGARY — Whether we would admit to it or not, new data from Statistics Canada shows Albertans have embraced medical cannabis more than any province or territory in Canada.

And when it comes to cannabis use — regardless of how it was purchased —this province is the third-highest cannabis consumer in the country, with an average of 24.1 grams per person, per year.

Nova Scotia has the highest per capita usage, with 27.1 grams, and British Columbia is close behind with 24.6 grams.

Alberta accounted for more than a quarter of all legal cannabis purchases in Canada last year (25.1 per cent), according to Statistics Canada, although it’s estimated just 10.4 per cent of all marijuana sold in 2017 was bought with a medical document.

“Canadians have an extremely high rate of use compared to other developed nations — looking at Alberta as a more consumer-based province, this does not shock me at all,” said Dr. Ife Abiola, medical director of the 420 Clinic, which has locations in Calgary and Lethbridge.

He pointed out that while provinces such as Ontario and B.C. allowed illegal dispensaries to get a foot in the door, Albertans haven’t had the same opportunities to self-medicate.

“Because our law enforcement did a great job of keeping (illegal dispensaries) out of our communities, people went through the proper medical routes instead of skirting those laws and going to a dispensary,” Abiola said.

Consuming 20-plus grams of cannabis over the course of a year isn’t excessive, according to Abiola, but it’s enough to suggest that Canadians using cannabis are going beyond the occasional toke on a weekend.

“The average medical patient … will generally consume two to three grams every day,” he said.

“So, if you look at it in that respect, (24 grams is) not really that much.”

With recreational cannabis set to be legalized across the country this summer, both provinces and municipalities have been scrambling to prepare.

In the first week the City of Calgary was taking applications for cannabis retail store development permits, 256 were submitted — with 200 coming in the first 17 minutes of the application process opening.

Predictably, a large portion of the proposed store locations are clustered in the downtown core and the Beltline area.

Kensington’s main street, 10 Street N.W., has nine proposed sites already, and Inglewood has eight — but not all of them will be approved, as the city’s land use bylaw requires setback distances for cannabis stores near schools, vacant school parcels, liquor stores, emergency shelters and other cannabis businesses.

The specific distance depends on the land-use designation for the proposed location, but as a general rule, there will be a 300-metre buffer zone between cannabis retail stores.

After the federal government sets a date for legalization, the development permits will be approved or rejected in the order they were received, according to the city. In other words, the earlier an application was submitted, the better its chances of claiming an ideal location.

Once these stores open their doors, it’s possible the stream of new medical patients in Alberta will actually slow, according to Abiola, because many will self-medicate.

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“This is something that’s going to be ubiquitous … if you look at a place like Denver, Colorado, there’s not a lot of people who are accessing (cannabis) through doctors or prescriptions simply because it could be accessed through brick and mortar locations in their community,” he said.

“That being said, this doesn’t change the fact many people are using it for medical purposes. (That’s) never going to go away.”

EC Elizabeth Cameron is a Calgary-based reporter covering Indigenous affairs, drugs and health. Follow her on Twitter: @e_s_cameron

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