Pubdate: Mon, 07 Apr 2014
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Page: A7
Copyright: 2014 The Edmonton Journal
Contact: 
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Douglas Quan

MEDICAL POT SHIPMENTS SEIZED

Another member of Canada's fledgling medical-marijuana industry had a
shipment of pot products seized at a B.C. airport last week.

Toronto-based Mettrum Ltd., had acquired medical marijuana products
from growers in B.C. and planned to transport those products to
Ontario last Monday, spokesman Keelan Green told Postmedia News on
Sunday.

Federal regulators with Health Canada had signed off on the
transaction, Green said. "We don't do anything without Health Canada
approval."

Yet, for reasons that have not been made clear to the company, RCMP
officials seized the products at the Kelowna International Airport.
Green said the company isn't overly upset about the seizure - it's
just a "bit of a delay" and "one of those things," he said, chalking
it up to confusion over the transition from the old regulatory regime
to the new one. "We don't foresee a problem. ... The RCMP is doing their
job. Health Canada is doing their job," he said.

Green said it was "coincidence" that a competitor, Tweed Marijuana
Inc., of Smiths Falls, Ont. ,had a shipment of medical-marijuana
products seized the same day at the same airport.

The company - the first publicly traded medical pot company in Canada
- - felt it had done everything "absolutely correctly" and had invited
the Mounties to inspect the shipment, Tweed chairman Bruce Linton said
Friday. RCMP officials did not respond to a request Sunday for
comment. On Friday, B.C. spokesman Sgt. Duncan Pound said police
typically do not confirm or deny investigations unless there is a
specific need or until charges are laid.

Chuck Doucette, a retired RCMP investigator specializing in drug
crimes, said Sunday he had no knowledge of the cases but speculated
that the Mounties could be checking the backgrounds of the B.C.
growers who sold products to the new commercial producers.

Under the old regulatory regime, licence holders were allowed to grow
small amounts of pot in their basements or use designated growers, but
authorities complained that they often grew more than they were
permitted and that the system was rife with abuse.

Before the April 1 switch to the new regulatory regime, which
restricts production to commercial growers, people who had
personal-production licences were allowed to sell their "starting
materials," such as seeds and plants, to one of the new commercial
producers as long as Health Canada approved the transactions.

Mettrum, one of 12 commercial producers now licensed in Canada,
decided to acquire products from B.C. growers because the company was
"forecasting an increase in demand" and wanted to be sure it could
meet demand, Green said Sunday. He declined to say how much product
the company intended to import from B.C.

Green said the company's CEO, Michael Haines, was present at the
Kelowna airport when the RCMP inspection took place. Haines was
unavailable for comment Sunday, Green said.

Tweed's chairman said last week that unexpected demand prompted his
company to turn to B.C. growers for an additional 55 varieties of marijuana.

The transition to the new regulatory regime was complicated last month
when a Federal Court judge granted an injunction for medical marijuana
users who had previously held a personal-production licence. Some
patients have complained they won't be able to afford products under
the new system.

The injunction allowed those users to continue growing pot until the
court issues a final decision.

The federal government has appealed the court ruling. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D