Avail Cannabis makes Military Veterans a top priority by launching study for treating PTSD

First of 6 recruitment centres launching in North Bay Pharmacy on August 28th, 2020

ONTARIO, Aug 28,2020 /CNW/ - Avail Cannabis will be applying for ethics approval on an observational study which will seek to identify the optimal cannabinoid profile and therapeutic dose of medical cannabis oil for Military Veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD) and will be seeking approval to publish the findings in the The Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health (JMVFH) and present the results at the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research forum in Halifax in 2021. Further Military Veteran focused studies are also planned in the future and all studies have been developed keeping patient safety as the number one priority. In light of COVID-19 and public health guidelines regarding social distancing, patients will participate in the study remotely via telephone or virtually through online video. The official recruitment will not commence until ethics approval for the study has been received which is anticipated to come in late September. Until that time and after the studies have concluded, the locations will remain educational resource centers for Veterans and their families to receive local health care resources including but not limited to peer support.

Justin Whitehall, Clinic Director of Avail Cannabis says "After months of planning between multiple organizations, we are thrilled to finally be opening our first of 6 recruitment centres which are all situated within a few KM's of Canadian Forces Bases throughout Ontario and one in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Justin Whitehall and Military Veteran Jamie Chaplin from Midland, ON will be onsite to launch the centre and answer any questions that local Veterans or family members may have about the upcoming study or the general services offered by both Avail and the Northern Shores Pharmacy which the centre is located in. The address is 10 Maplewood Ave, North Bay, Ontario, P1B 5H2 and the official launch time will be at 12:00PM on Friday August 28th.

All of the recruitment centres are situated inside Pharmacies and a Pharmacy staff member at all locations will have successfully completed the "educational training for providing culturally competent care for Canadian Military Veterans in Pharmacies, reactive to proactive" which is an educational course for Pharmacists that both Avail and some of the participating pharmacists have developed that aims to better support our Military Veterans and the goal is to have the course fully accredited for pharmacists across Ontario next month for when the study commences.

Indicating a timeline for this ongoing initiative Whitehall adds "the remaining recruitment centres will all be launched throughout September as we wait for the proper approvals with additional releases to follow.

As a medical team with over 25 years of combined traditional and marijuana-based prescription experience, Avail Cannabis Clinics opened its first medical marijuana clinic in downtown Barrie Ontario in 2018. The company also operates telemedicine and family walk-in style clinics offering select conventional and cannabis prescription services in collaboration with independently owned pharmacies throughout Ontario. For more information, please call Avail Cannabis toll-free at 1.888.492.8245 or visit the company's website at www.availcannabis.com or [email protected]

SOURCE Avail Cannabis