Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jan 2014
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: James Bagnall

Pot luck: SMITHS FALLS FIRM GETS LICENCE TO GROW MARIJUANA

Tweed Inc. wants to have 25 strains available for medical use by April
1

OTTAWA - Health Canada says it has awarded a licence to Tweed Inc. of
Smiths Falls to produce medical marijuana.

Tweed CEO Chuck Rifici said Tuesday he wants to have 25 strains
available for sale by April 1 - when new rules governing the
pot-growing industry come into effect.

The company recently acquired the 470,000 square-foot facility
formerly occupied by chocolate maker Hershey. Only part of the massive
complex will be used to house the marijuana growing operation.

Under the current legal regime, marijuana users are able to grow the
weed in their own homes. But as of April 1, they will have to procure
it from licensed growers such as Tweed, which will manufacture a
standardized product from secure premises.

Tweed is the fifth firm to be granted a licence by Health Canada, and
the first one based in Eastern Ontario.

CanniMed of Saskatchewan - the monopoly supplier to the federal
government since the medicinal marijuana program was introduced in
2001 - was awarded a licence last fall. Three others - Mettrum Ltd.,
The Peace Naturals Projects Inc. and Bedrocan Canada Inc. - have won
licences more recently. They are located in or north of Toronto.
Health Canada estimates the medicinal pot business will generate
revenues of $1.3 billion annually within 10 years, but this is based
on a twelve-fold increase in the number of users from the current base
of less than 40,000. It's not clear what would justify such a jump.

Tweed, which has a licence to produce up to 15,000 kilograms of
marijuana annually, already has about 10,000 plants under cultivation.
The active ingredients, which can be smoked or ingested, alleviate
pain and other ailments.

Rifici said the products will be sold in April at prices ranging from
$5 to $12 per gram, depending on the strain. (Mettrum began selling
two strains of its weed earlier this month for $7.60 per gram). Tweed
is committing at least 10 per cent of its production for sale at the
lowest regular price.

In addition, low-income patients will get a 20 per cent
discount.

Rifici said Tweed will be accepting patients early in February. The
rules require patients to obtain a medical certificate from their
doctor - a document that specifies how much marijuana should be taken
each day. The next step involves forwarding a copy of the medical
certificate to Tweed or other approved supplier. Patients will be
given a secure ID that can be used to buy weed online or by phone.
Suppliers will then courier the product to patients' homes.

Tweed, which employs about 20, is laying the groundwork for what it
hopes will be a $100 million-a-year operation. The company is
acquiring a stock listing on the TSX Venture exchange. Tweed signed a
letter of intent Jan. 2 to acquire the listing of LW Capital Pool Inc.
through what is known as a reverse takeover. LW will issue so many
shares to buy Tweed, that Tweed will wind up owning 95 per cent of the
new entity.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D