Pubdate: Sat, 19 Apr 2014
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Tonda MacCharles
Page: 16

ONLY 20 BIDS TO GROW MEDICINAL POT APPROVED

Health Canada Doesn't Have Resources to Implement New System, Liberal MP Says

OTTAWA- The federal government has received hundreds of applications 
from pot producers seeking to become licensed marijuana growers under 
the Conservatives' new scheme, but has processed fewer than two dozen so far.

In a formal written response last week to Liberal MP Hedy Fry, Health 
Minister Rona Ambrose provided a snapshot of the rocky transition to 
a new legal scheme that has cost nearly $2 million, began in earnest 
but was stalled by a court injunction three weeks ago.

Ontario leads the way in the number of applications, as well as the 
number of producers - nine - licensed to date. One high-profile 
Ontario applicant has decided to enter the medical marijuana business.

Former Ontario minister of health George Smitherman working with Kim 
Derry, former deputy chief of the Toronto police, and Markham 
pharmacist Kandavel Palanivel, plans to apply in the coming weeks for 
a licence to grow medical marijuana at a farm in the Uxbridge area. 
But he may have a long wait.

Health Canada says to date, just 12 producers have been licensed to 
supply an estimated 37,800 medicinal pot users in Canada. Another 
eight companies are licensed to grow for other purposes, such as 
selling stock to other producers. For example, two licences approved 
in Saskatchewan are part of the same business. One is authorized to 
sell to the public and the other is authorized to sell to other producers.

The new licensing scheme is meant to force medicinal pot users to buy 
from federally authorized producers, and to disallow individuals from 
growing it themselves or having someone grow for them - a system the 
government said was open to abuse.

On March 21, a Federal Court judge in B.C. ruled that those who hold 
a personal production licence could continue to do so while a court 
challenge is underway.

Fry, a doctor and MP for Vancouver-Centre, says the new numbers prove 
the federal court gave Ambrose an inadvertent "reprieve" because it 
is clear her department does not have the resources to adequately 
implement the new system.

The old program had been set to end on March 31.

"The injunction sort of saved them," said Fry. "The question is: were 
they ever going to be able to meet the needs?"

In her reply to Fry's question, Ambrose said by the end of January 
her department had received 434 applications to become a licensed 
producer, with nearly 100 of those later withdrawn, refused or 
returned because they were incomplete.

A department official, providing background information, said in an 
interview that number has since increased to nearly 700 applications 
received, with close to 220 rejected outright or withdrawn, and about 
475 applications currently being processed.

Fry said the federal Conservatives cut 840 jobs from Health Canada in 
2012, yet the department acquired more responsibility for food and 
drug inspections and cannot keep up.

"The question is was Health Canada going to meet any of its needs 
with regard to, not only medical marijuana approvals, but of any drug 
approval. They're way behind," said Fry. "The question is do we have 
resources, period."

Health Canada won't identify in which towns and cities medical pot 
suppliers are located "for privacy reasons."

As of the end of January, the cost of implementing the new 
regulations was pegged at about $1.8 million.

That cost may increase now that Ambrose has announced she intends to 
file a legal appeal of the March 21 ruling that allowed a number of 
B.C. medical patients to continue to grow their own supply or have 
someone produce for them.

The RCMP is screening would-be producers' personnel to assess whether 
there is a "risk of cannabis being diverted to an illicit market or 
use," Ambrose wrote.

It is not clear how much medicinal pot will end up being produced 
under the new program as there is no cap.

Fry had asked whether there would be an adequate supply, and 
Ambrose's response suggests her department foresaw no problem.

The first six licensed producers had "a production capacity greater 
than 30,000 kilograms" and "will be offering various strains of 
cannabis to clients across Canada," according to Ambrose's reply.

The new regulations require people to have a "valid medical document" 
and to register with a licensed producer by mail or online in order 
to buy medical marijuana, which would then be delivered by the 
licensed producer to the client's mailing address "hence promoting 
accessibility," Ambrose wrote.

For now, the government says the two programs will run concurrently. 
Ottawa will continue to accept and process production applications 
under the new regime; and anyone who held a valid permit on March 21 
to buy or produce medical pot may continue to do so. But no new 
personal production permits are being issued by the government.

Health Canada says that program cost more than $16 million in 2011-12 
and had been increasing each year.

The government will play no role in setting the price of medical 
marijuana. However, Ambrose indicated that: "Currently, the price of 
marijuana for medical purposes is fixed by licensed producers and 
ranges from $3 to $12 per gram."

Her department's website lists the licensed producers.

It warns: "Dried marijuana is not an approved drug or medicine in Canada.

The Government of Canada does not endorse the use of marijuana, but 
the courts have required reasonable access to a legal source of 
marijuana when authorized by a physician."

- - With a file from Tim Alamenciak
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom