Pubdate: Tue, 17 May 2016
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Paula McCooey
Page: 9

SEEING GREEN

Former Mountie on the cusp of marijuana industry

As he sits in the sleek, modern waiting room of National Access
Cannabis, Derek Ogden can envision what his quiet education clinic in
Hintonburg might some day become: A bustling dispensary for medical
marijuana.

For the moment, Ogden's Ottawa operation is a membership - and
information - based business. Its services include connecting clients
to a network of physicians for a medical assessment, helping them to
navigate the paperwork to obtain a medical cannabis card, and going as
far as offering cooking-with-cannabis classes.

It just can't have any weed on site.

"I think there's a large number of patients that really do want to go
in (to a dispensary), speak to somebody and view the various types of
products," Ogden.

Ogden has a unique perspective on the medical marijuana business and
its recreational cousin, which sits on the cusp of legalization. As
well as being the chief executive of National Access Cannabis, Ogden
is a former Mountie.

In his former life in the RCMP, Ogden was in charge of drug
enforcement. He worked closely with Health Canada to help map out the
then-Medical Marihuana Access Regulations, which allowed a few dozen
government-licensed distributors to send cannabis to approved
patients, but by mail order only.

"It gave me a little bit of insight (into) the tough job that Health
Canada has with the whole file," said Ogden. "We would have joint
meetings and then we would map out a process. We wanted to know that
if we were doing search warrants we weren't going to encroach on their
medicinal cannabis patients. They wanted to make sure things went
smoothly back and forth."

In 2014, the federal Conservative government overhauled the regime. (A
federal court ruling this February then struck down a prohibition on
individuals growing their own medical Derek Ogden, CEO of National
Access Cannabis, poses for a photo outside his clinic on Wellington
Street West in Ottawa. Ogden is a former RCMP officer who worked in
drug enforcement for five years. marijuana.) The Liberals have
promised to legalize pot.

Today, there are about 25 government-approved growers, including Tweed
in Smiths Falls and Moncton, N.B.-based OrganiGram Inc. They have
confirmed they will move to produce and sell marijuana for
recreational use once it is legalized.

Cannabis industry consultant Eric Nash said the regulatory system in
place is only serving the needs of about 80,000 Canadians. That's well
short of the number of estimated medical marijuana users in the
country. The last Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey
published by Health Canada pegged that total number at about 420,000
in 2011.

Between medical users and recreational users, there is a market for
what Ogden hopes to someday be legally selling.

Until new legislation is introduced, he would like to approach Health
Canada about using National Cannabis Access as a test organization to
dispense medical marijuana out of its storefronts. To do so, it would
need an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

"It makes sense to try it out in a test venue ... see what works and
doesn't work, and adjust your regulations from there," Ogden said.

He said that with Canada's aging population, many of whom are
concerned about opioid use related to liver and kidney damage, the
demand will only increase for those "who may want to try something
that will provide some relief."

While the government says there hasn't been a widespread increase in
storefront marijuana dispensaries, the Canadian Association of Medical
Cannabis Dispensaries estimates there are at least 350 such
storefronts in Canada, some that have taken dispensing to a new level,
with self-serve vending machines that dispense three to four grams at
a time.

Opponents say the storefront dispensaries are technically illegal and
should be shut down.

Medical marijuana advocates say dispensaries fill a huge void for
Canadians not covered by existing laws governing medical pot either
distributed by mail or grown at home. They say the answer is to
introduce regulations to standardize the quality of the product they
sell and the criteria for clients looking to buy it.

Ogden agrees. He has spoken to many patients - most of whom are over
45 years old - who don't feel comfortable receiving their medicine in
the mail, and would like to see what they are buying.
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