Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2005 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/netherlands DUTCH RETHINK MEDICINAL SALES AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The Dutch Health Ministry, unhappy with legal sales of medical marijuana through pharmacies, will re-evaluate its program later this year and may close it, a spokesman said yesterday. In a country where unauthorized marijuana has been easily available for decades, the government was surprised to find that prescription marijuana produced under stringent quality controls has been far less successful than predicted, said Health Ministry spokesman Bas Kuik. The government is selling less than one-third of the marijuana it thought it would and is losing money, said Mr. Kuik. Doctors who had lobbied for legalizing prescription marijuana in the 1990s failed to prescribe it once it was available in drugstores. Sales began in September 2003 and fell flat, Mr. Kuik said. One reason may be the high price of prescribed marijuana, compared with the product sold at the neighbourhood coffee shop. The prescription marijuana is about double the price of the unprescribed drug -- or about $280 U.S. an ounce -- since it must cover the costs of regulating production, packaging and sales tax. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin