Pubdate: Sat, 13 Dec 2014
Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2014 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://www.herald.ns.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Paul McLeod

MEDICAL POT FIRMS: SUPPLY SCARCE DUE TO RED TAPE

OTTAWA - Delays in inspections and approvals to grow medical marijuana
are causing shortages, according to some in the industry.

This year, Canada transformed its medical marijuana regime by banning
small, homegrown outfits and moving to multimillion-dollar industrial
producers.

Hundreds of companies are waiting to see if they will be licensed to
sell pot. But those who have been approved are frequently selling out
and have faced delays in expanding production.

Tilray has 30 grow rooms ready to go at their 60,000-square-foot
facility in Nanaimo, B.C. The rooms represent 80 per cent of their
total production. But they've been waiting months for Health Canada to
sign off on them.

"Over the past several months we've encountered significant delays in
receiving required inspections and approvals," said Tilray spokesman
Zack Hutson.

"We've had rooms ready and awaiting inspection since August. We're
hopeful that Health Canada will inspect and approve the rooms soon
because we want to ensure our patients have access to the medicine
they need."

The company hasn't run out of product, but it has regularly run out of
its popular strands, said Hutson. Different strands of medical
marijuana are used for treating different conditions. Someone smoking
pot for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder could be smoking a
very different breed than pot for chemotherapy side effects.

The company says it is still waiting for word on when government
inspectors will allow it to expand its business. Tilray is one of 23
businesses so far approved to produce cannabis.

Talk of struggling to keep up with demand was echoed by other
companies contacted by the Chronicle Herald on Friday, though a few
said they have been able to meet all their customers' orders.

At least one, Whistler Medical Marijuana Corp., is hoping to expand
its production to meet demand but is also waiting on Health Canada
approval.

Tilray, whose parent company, Privateer Holdings, is based out of
Seattle, Wash., got in early and was approved relatively quickly.
After applying for a license in October 2013 it received preliminary
approval in January and was in business by April of this year.

That time frame is long gone, says Evan Price of the Truro Herbal
Company.

"That has not been the experience of anyone currently in the program.
It'll be 12 to 24 months it looks like," said Price.

The company has bought a 2.6-hectare plot of land in the Truro
industrial park and is awaiting approval.

As of Nov. 24, Health Canada received 1,161 applications to sell
medical marijuana. About half of those were sent back because they
were incomplete. A further 224 were refused and 25 were withdrawn,
leaving 301 applications currently being reviewed.

The barrier for entry is millions of dollars. Health Canada has set a
high bar for security, which includes trained personnel on-site at all
times, security cameras, and top-of-the-line vaults that can range in
cost into the tens of thousands of dollars.

"It is essentially a medium-sized bank that has all of the security
protocols a detention facility would have," said Price of the facility
they are planning to build in Truro.

Areas containing pot must be visually monitored at all times and the
identity of everyone entering or exiting the areas must be recorded,
according to government regulations.

Price said he supports the high security standards. The company has
already raised $700,000 in capital and hopes to raise $4 million in
January and February.

The smallest-sized project that can be approved in Canada would make
enough pot for about $500,000 in revenue. The largest category would
involve revenues north of $150 million.
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MAP posted-by: Matt