Many people become Compassion Club members because of the quality and affordability of our cannabis products. Some also love our dispensary model and our friendly, knowledgeable staff. But did you know we also offer something unique? It’s something that isn’t found in any other medicinal dispensary in Canada. Find out why our Wellness Centre apothecary is one of the greatest perks of becoming a member. And if you haven’t visited it yet, here’s why you should.
Our Wellness Centre Services
Our Wellness Centre is located right next door to our dispensary, and it’s a lifeline to many. Those who come to us are often low-income and have many debilitating conditions including cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders, anxiety, and chronic pain. Often times, they don’t have extended health benefits and cannot afford certain wellness and health services.
That’s where our Wellness Centre fills the gap. There, they offer therapies that can complement medicinal cannabis, or alternative treatments that don’t require cannabis at all; modalities such as acupuncture, counselling, nutrition, herbalists, integrative energy healing, massage, and craniosacral therapy. We also offer one of the most unique features that no other dispensary can offer: our amazing apothecary!
A Dispensary with a Unique Vision
The combination of a dispensary/wellness centre was a vision that began in 1997, with our founders. To this day, the BC Compassion Club is still the only dispensary in Vancouver that offers low cost or free holistic health services to its members.
Through our membership fees and sales of medical cannabis, the Wellness Centre can offer these services to low-income individuals. We offer natural therapies on a sliding scale, thereby subsidizing the cost of sessions up to 82%. In 2018 alone, 2,946 sessions were offered to 293 members at low and subsidized costs. That year, the Wellness Centre also donated over $36,000 worth of herbs and supplements to members in need.
Largest Apothecary in Western Canada
At the BCCCS, not only do we believe in natural healing, we have a whole room dedicated to plant-based medicines.
Remember the potions room in the Harry Potter films? Even if you don’t, imagine our apothecary is just as magical. Rows of carefully grown organic herbs, flowers, and plants, line shelves as high as the eye can see. The air is filled with the familiar smells of lavender, chamomile, and wild herbs, mingling with some other scents you may not recognize. But the experience of walking inside is amazing, and immediately you are captured by the way your senses come alive.
It may fit in one room, but our wellness centre apothecary is one of the largest in the whole of Canada. Many of our natural plant-based ingredients are grown and wild-harvested by our herbalists. Some are even handpicked on their own farms, as far away as Salt Spring Island and the BC Interior, on the Secwepemc territory. Other ingredients are ethically sourced from small-scale producers.
All our apothecary products, whether they’re handmade formulations or pre-prepared, are certified organic, made in small batches to ensure quality.
We also have teas, tinctures, and essential oils, infused honeys, infused oils, salves, creams, and glycerites. We only source from skilled ethical herbalists and generally give away anywhere from $30,000 -$40,000 in herbal formulas to members in need, each year.
How Can You Access Our Apothecary?
If you’re a member of the BCCCS, you can access our Wellness Centre services. You may be able to visit our apothecary even as a private client. You just won’t be eligible for free or reduced cost supplements or herbal formulas. There may also be waitlists for treatments, as our services are in high demand and members are given priority.
To take advantage of our apothecary you will need to see one of our herbalists. Health Canada still requires an herbalist consultation to access medicines such as tinctures. Right now, we are doing consultations by phone. Once the pandemic is over, we may return to in-person appointments, when it is safe to do so.
After your initial consult, our herbalists will give you recommendations and will suggest herbal medicines, supplements, and customized formulas that will be helpful for your unique symptoms and medical conditions.
Interested in accessing our herbalists? Call the wellness centre at 604.709.0448 to add you name to our waitlist.