N.S. pharmacist sanctioned for baking medical marijuana into cookies

HALIFAX – A pharmacist in Cape Breton has been fired and temporarily stripped of her licence for baking marijuana cookies for a patient and packaging them in a prescription bag.

The Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists says it has reached a settlement agreement with JoAnne Andrews, who agreed that her actions last September amounted to professional misconduct.

In a decision last week, the college says a patient gave Andrews medicinal marijuana at the pharmacy where she was practising in Sydney and that she took it home to bake into cookies.

The agreement says Andrews brought the cookies to the pharmacy for the patient to pick up, but left them in a bag when the patient didn’t show up before her shift ended on Sept. 7.

Andrews gave the cookies to the patient at the pharmacy on Sept. 8, and was fired the next day.

“Ms. Andrews acknowledges and agrees that her conduct … amounts to professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming contrary to the Pharmacy Act and regulations,” says a decision from a hearing committee

Under the agreement, Andrews was given a letter of reprimand, fined $1,000, had her licence suspended for 30 days, ordered to take an ethics course and notify the college of where she’s practising for three years.