Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jul 2015
Source: Penticton Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.pentictonherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/664
Author: Dan Albas
Note: Dan Albas is the Member of Parliament for OkanaganCoquihalla 
and writes this weekly report for his constituents. His website is 
www.danalbas.com and has an archive of previous reports.
Page: A10

HEALTH CANADA RESPONDS TO COURT RULING

In early June the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a judgement with 
respect to how medical marijuana may be consumed. A brief summary of 
this ruling is that the Supreme Court decided that medical marijuana, 
including extracts and derivatives, could be consumed in a variety of 
different methods beyond the previously defined means of being dried.

In essence this ruling opens the door for oral ingestion that does 
not require "smoking" and allows marijuana laced baked goods, pills 
and other methods. Also included are cannabis oils along with both 
dried and now fresh marijuana buds and leaves.

As a result of this ruling Health Canada this week has responded to 
the Supreme Court decision by announcing a section 56 exemption that 
will allow licensed producers to produce and sell cannabis oil and 
fresh marijuana buds and leaves in addition to dried marijuana. It 
should also be noted that the current regulations related to Doctors 
in authorizing marijuana for medical use does not change as a result 
of this week's Health Canada changes.

The new exemption, in place immediately, will continue to require 
licensed producers to ship in a safe and secure manner, with 
child-resistant packaging. From a technical standpoint the THC 
content in Cannabis oils cannot exceed 30mg per ml. A label will also 
be required to disclose the THC content of the supplied product. 
There are also a number of administrative and transaction related 
requirements that will continue to apply.

Currently in Canada there are 25 licensed producers in various 
regions across the country. Health Canada also reminds all Canadians 
that medical marijuana is not an approved drug or medicine in Canada 
and has not gone through the necessary rigorous scientific trials for 
efficacy or safety.

Recently I have had a few questions regarding the ongoing financial 
crises in Greece. As many citizens are likely aware Greece has voted 
against the European Union's loan extension requirements. This is a 
serious situation as one in four in Greece are unemployed and the 
country cannot pay its bills as the banking system is in near collapse.

The question I have been asked is did Canada have money loaned to 
Greece as part of a bailout package. The answer is no, as our 
Government declined to loan money to Greece, a decision made by our 
Prime Minister that was criticized by the leader of the official 
opposition who supported loaning Canadian tax dollars for the Greek bail out.

While the current Greek financial crisis remains a serious concern it 
is also important to recognize the importance of all Governments to 
live within its means.

While not widely reported, late last week the Ontario Government had 
its credit rating downgraded-that in turn can lead to increased 
interest on borrowing costs that can be problematic for a Government 
not running a balanced budget.

Fortunately closer to home the BC Provincial Government has worked 
aggressively to ensure that BC's well respected credit rating remains 
unchanged. On the same theme, the Federal Government has also 
maintained its AAA credit rating, which is important to ensure that 
more funds can be spent in areas such as infrastructure as opposed to 
paying higher levels of interest.

As Parliament is not in session, I am continuing my office's fourth 
annual summer listening tour where I formally and informally meet 
with various constituents and organizations throughout our area. 
Previous tours have resulted in a number of items for me to take 
forward that were well received in Ottawa.

If you would like to schedule a meeting please contact me via email 
at  or call toll free at 1-800-665-8711. 
Concerns, questions and suggestions are always welcome.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom