Weed experts wanted: National Access Cannabis looks to expand their team

The job posting has only been up for six days but the folks at the National Access Cannabis location on Spring Garden Road in Halifax are swamped with applications for their cannabis information specialist position.

"It's going to be hard to choose just one person," said Diandra Phipps, manager for the location, where almost 50 job applications have been sent.

National Access Cannabis is a health-care service provider that helpspatients legally accessmedical cannabis through a licensed producer. The corporation has three other locations in Ontario and British Columbia.

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Colin Cochrane, a cannabis information specialist in Halifax, said the job requires a lot of patience and awareness.

"We deal with anxiety, depression, veterans with severe PTSD, cancer patients,"said Cochrane.

The medical marijuana industry is much more than just getting people high. Cochrane said you need to understand the plant's medical properties, how it responds in the body and how it can treat many ailments.

"They aren't just here to pick up the product and smoke it," said managing director Kenny Lord. "They are here for medical reasons."

Experts wanted

Lord said candidates should have a basic understanding of medical-cannabis use when applying, but patient care is the most important part of the job.

"It's a little bit more zeroed in on client care,"said Lord. "Their job will range from a number of emotional roller coasters, so we need some strong, confident individuals."

National Access Cannabis works to ensurepatients receive the proper strain of cannabis and are shown the different means of consumption. Lord said not everyone responds to medical cannabis the same way, so personalized care tailors cannabis use to the individual needs of the patient.

Salaries for the position will be determined based on the individual's qualifications, but Lord said it will probably start as a$15 hourly wage. Phipps said applicants have come from a wide variety of backgrounds.

"We have people [applying]with nurse designations and medical training all the way down to someone who is looking to work their way up in the industry,"said Phipps.

The successful applicant should be ready to handle busy days. Lord said they have helped register over 600 patients in Atlantic Canada since they opened in November.