Pubdate: Wed, 17 Apr 2013 Source: Valley Voice, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2013 The Valley Voice Contact: http://valleyvoice.ca/contact-us/ Website: http://www.valleyvoice.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1388 Author: Jan McMurray NAKUSP AREA RESIDENT SEES BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY IN NEW MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGULATIONS Big changes to the medical marijuana regulations are coming down the pike, and Rodney Potapoff from the Nakusp area sees a business opportunity for himself as a licenced medical marijuana producer. He attended the April 9 Nakusp council meeting to inform council of his plans and to ask for a letter of intent, which is one of the requirements in the lengthy application process. Potapoff told council he would like to set up his medical marijuana grow operation in Nakusp's commercial core, to bring tax revenue into the Village and to be located near the RCMP station for optimum security. He said he was looking at purchasing the old fire hall, as the 5,000-square-foot building is a suitable size for the operation. Although the downtown location would be his preference, he said he is considering setting up shop on his own rural acreage as an alternative. Councillor Mueller said most local governments would allow this type of operation in agricultural or industrial areas only, because of the smell. Potapoff replied that he would be using charcoal filters or ozone technology, so odour would not be an issue. In a letter to council, he states that he intends to grow organic marijuana "with the latest green Nakusp area resident sees business opportunity in new medical marijuana regulations technology to date. The effluent will be treated with ozone and recycled." According to the Health Canada website, the new 'Marijuana for Medical Purposes' regulations are expected to come into effect this spring. There will be a transition period until March 31, 2014 during which both the current and the new regulations will be valid. As of April 1, 2014, there must be full compliance with the new regulations. During the transition time, there is an opportunity for those planning to apply to be licenced producers to apply for authorization to conduct research and development activities with marijuana, such as testing plant materials and growing conditions. Potapoff intends to submit a research and development application as soon as possible. "This will give us the go-ahead right away to get up and running," he told council. "This time next year, they want us in full production." The Health Canada website explains the key differences between the two sets of regulations. Under the current regulations, patients first obtain a document from their physician recommending the use of medical marijuana, and then they apply to Health Canada for authorization to possess marijuana. Upon Health Canada approval, they may grow marijuana at home, designate someone to grow marijuana for them, or purchase marijuana from a government producer. Under the proposed new regulations, patients must obtain a document from their physician and send it to a producer who has been licenced by Health Canada. Licenced producers won't be allowed to grow marijuana in homes or outdoors. They will have to comply with very strict security requirements, product labelling and packaging requirements, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and product quality standards. This is expected to drive the price up from the current $5 per gram to $8 per gram. The only way that licenced producers will be allowed to retail the marijuana is via secure shipping - registered mail or bonded courier. Medical marijuana may also be sold by pharmacists, authorized health care practitioners, and hospitals, who would purchase it from licenced producers. An RDCK staff report on the new regulations states that the expected price increase "could be detrimental for individuals living in this region who use marijuana for medical purposes." It also states that the new regulations "will require significant investments in site security and quality control measures. This change could make it impossible for small producers to continue to grow [medical] marijuana, ... thus removing opportunities for small-scale production and eliminating the local economic benefits that these home-based grow operations provide to this region." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D