Pubdate: Mon, 20 Apr 2015
Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Vancouver 24 hrs.
Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/letters
Website: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837
Author: Michael Mui
Page: 5

BOOST ACCESS TO MEDICAL POT: STUDY

University of B.C. researcher wants to know how to make it easier for
those who need medical marijuana to obtain their medicine

Research out of the University of B.C. is examining new and old ways
people are getting their hands on marijuana in an era loaded with
legal and illegal ways to get the bud.

Legal challenges-some of them still underway-have made the process
of obtaining marijuana in the country complex.

There's the old Medical Marijuana Access Regulations that remain the
most common way for people to get legal pot. That system, according to
Cannabis Access Regulations Study project co-ordinator Rielle Capler,
has licence holders either growing pot themselves or finding a
designated grower. But despite the MMAR program's scheduled end in
April last year, a court challenge kept the program alive even as the
Marijuana for Medical Purposes program is rolled out to replace it.
MMPR has a number of licenced producers - often large companies -
mailing pot to licence holders. This takes the growing process out of
the hands of medical marijuana users.

And there's the black market - Capler said this remains a popular
choice for both types of licence holders because of limited
availability of pot.

"There's this really dynamic regulatory environment right now where
the old regulations overlap with the new regulations," she said.

"We want to look at the difference between people's experience of
access under these two programs."

So far, surveys of 450 medical marijuana users across the country have
been completed. Speaking with survey subjects, Capler knows one
challenge nearly all medical marijuana users face is costs, unless
they grow it themselves. For someone growing themselves - or obtaining
it from a designated grower - costs could be as low as $2 a gram. But
buying pot from an MMPR official supplier or a dispensary, the latter
of which are technically illegal, could quickly increase the costs
five-fold.

Access to different strains, or any pot at all, also remains a
challenge, she said.

"In terms of MMPR, what's happened to the program is that Health
Canada said they're going to licence about 50, but it's going slow -
in April 2014 there was three ... even now, there's only 16
suppliers."
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MAP posted-by: Matt