Aphria's veteran pricing scamThats how the Vice investigation into medical marijuana pricing for veterans begins, but the lead is totally buried in those first two paragraphs. That Canada would be spending a lot more money to cover a lot more veterans for medical marijuana isnt exactly news. That certain companies have been exploiting that situation to charge the government above and beyond for that medicine is the real scam and its one that has fractured the local industry in just a few days. Vice found certain LPs were presenting veterans with different websites than non-veterans were seeing, with cheaper medicines omitted for the vets and in some cases pricing hidden. Kurt logged onto the Aphria site, which offers a sleek, easy-to-navigate online shop, and chose several strains, paying upwards of $12 per gram. Later, his wife stumbled onto Aphrias main site, the one available to the general public. It turns out that, as a veteran, several products were hidden from view entirely. Kurt, this is beyond cheaper, she recalls telling him. Strains were offered for as low as $4 per gram. Some of those strains were exactly what Kurt was looking for lower in THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. When they called Aphria to ask if they could switch to the other site, they were told it would be impossible. What do you care? Kurt recalls the Aphria representative telling him over the phone. You dont pay for it anyway. Kurt, partly in protest, switched vendors and says hes charging $800 to $1,000 less per month now on the public health plan. To be sure, this story is anecdotal. Maybe the Aphria rep said that, maybe they didnt. Maybe the rep was off-script, maybe not. But just presenting vets with the most expensive strains and not allowing them to see others, thats bullshit, brutal, and scandalous. Thats not an isolated rep saying the wrong thing, thats corporate misdirection and exploitation for which Aphria should be horrified and ashamed. Ive been a big Aphria supporter for months now. I saw them as a real adult in the space and saw their recent moves as strong indicators that theyd be on target to become one of a handful of giants parts that make up Big Cannabis going forward, but since this story has come out, Aphria has offered no news release to explain the situation or deny the situation. Theyve remained silent.