Pubdate: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 Source: Halifax Herald (CN NS) Copyright: 2002 The Halifax Herald Limited Contact: http://www.herald.ns.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180 Author: Canadian Press OTTAWA SMOKES TEST MARIJUANA Ottawa - The first batch of marijuana grown by a private company under a Health Canada contract was useless for clinical trials and had to be burned, Health Minister Anne McLellan told Montreal La Presse in an interview published Saturday. Prairie Plant Systems Inc. received a five-year, $5 million federal contract to grow marijuana in an abandoned copper mine in Flin Flon, Man., but McLellan said their first batch was not uniform. Prairie Plant Systems was unable to receive a supply of standardized marijuana seeds from the United States, McLellan said, so the company turned to the RCMP, which supplied seeds that were seized in various raids. "So there definitely wasn't any standardization of the product," McLellan told La Presse. "From the first harvest it was very clear - my people did the tests here - that there were all sorts of marijuana. Plants from different stocks with rates of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, that varied from plant to plant. All of it had to be burned." Scientists have since been able to produce standardized seeds that have led to a second, more uniform harvest in Flin Flon which will be used for testing. "That harvest is in the process of being checked," McLellan said. "It will soon be available for clinical trials." McLellan denied the perception that she does not favour the use of marijuana for medicinal uses. McLellan acknowledged the position of pro-marijuana activists, who tout the plant's value as a relief for nausea caused by AIDS and cancer treatments, among other uses. But McLellan said there is still no scientific proof of these claims. "In fact, we don't know enough," she said. "I asked my ministry to examine all of the research. The conclusion was that there is very, very little happening right now to determine the medical benefits associated with marijuana use. "There's a lot of anecdotes on marijuana use, people who say that it gives them relief, allows them to keep their food down etc... But the problem is that if you want a doctor to prescribe you some pot, he would be very reticent to do so without serious medical and scientific facts that would allow him to make a clear decision." Doctors, McLellan added, are more and more preoccupied with the legal implications of prescribing a drug whose effects have not been scientifically verified. "If they prescribe this product without knowing if there are serious side-effects, without knowing how pot interacts with other substances or other chemical cocktails, they risk facing lawsuits," McLellan said. McLellan feels marijuana should be treated exactly like any other new medication, which means it should be subject to a rigorous battery of tests before it is approved for use by the public. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth