Pubdate: Wed, 9 Jul 2003
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2003, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Oliver Moore, Globe and Mail
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

OTTAWA SET TO SELL ITS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Update

The federal government is going to share its stash of marijuana, selling 
the drug to hundreds of critically ill Canadians at bargain prices.

A Health Canada spokeswoman said Wednesday that more than 1,650 baggies of 
the drug have been packaged and are ready to ship as soon as the 
applications have been approved. The application form has been posted 
on-line at the Health Canada Web site; people who fill it out properly 
could have the drug in their possession in as little as a week.

"It's splendid product, with approximate THC content of 10 per cent," said 
the spokeswoman, Cindy Cripps-Prawak.

But the flow could be stopped before the end of the summer. Ottawa has 
appealed an Ontario Superior Court ruling that medical-marijuana access 
regulations are unconstitutional. That appeal is expected to come to court 
by the end of July.

"Any decision that's rendered ... will be reviewed in its fullness, and a 
decision will be made at that time," Ms. Cripps-Prawak said, refusing to 
speculate further.

In the meantime, Health Canada has revealed a plan - which Ms. 
Cripps-Prawak stressed repeatedly is only an interim measure - to sell 
dried marijuana and seeds to licensed users, with their doctors acting as a 
go-between.

Dried marijuana has been set at only $5 a gram, between one-half and 
one-fifth the price it usually sells for on the street. The price for a 
package of seeds has been set at $20.

The drug - which will come from an underground facility at a Flin Flon, 
Man., mine - has been priced to cover the cost of production and 
distribution, Ms. Cripps-Prawak told a conference call.

She told reporters that seeds will be sold to people who have obtained a 
medical certificate and have the ability and means to grow the plant. 
People who are unable to grow a crop, cannot designate someone to do it on 
their behalf or are not eligible to cultivate it will instead be able to 
buy the dried product.
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MAP posted-by: Jackl