Pubdate: Thu, 04 Jun 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Mike Hager
Page: A1

VETERANS GROUP SEEKS FEES FROM PRODUCERS FOR REFERRALS

A former soldier organizing hundreds of fellow PTSD-suffering 
veterans in Atlantic Canada to take advantage of federally funded 
marijuana prescriptions says he sees no problem with producers paying 
groups representing patients in an industry with scant regulation on sales.

Afghanistan veteran Fabian Henry has spoken on behalf of his group, 
Marijuana for Trauma, to a number of licensed producers about sharing 
a cut of sales or receiving patient referral fees, which he says will 
help build a holistic centre for his group's roughly 500 members.

Revenue-sharing deals between licensed producers and clinics or 
groups of patients are the types of "kickbacks" decried earlier this 
week by Tilray, one of Canada's largest licensed growers that has 
formed its own breakaway lobby group outlawing such practices.

But Mr. Henry says Tilray entertained such an arrangement. He 
approached the grower last summer asking for a percentage of gross 
sales to veterans he referred. But he says the company instead 
offered "$100 a patient." Tilray's CEO Greg Engel denied this and 
said his firm has never paid a referral fee or any portion of sales 
to any physician, clinic or group. The practice of some doctors, 
clinics and patient groups such as Mr. Henry's receiving money from 
producers has revealed apparent gaps in the rules that govern the 
federal medical marijuana system, which was overhauled last year.

There are strict regulations that set out how the drug is produced on 
a commercial scale in an industry that Ottawa estimates could be 
cultivating annual sales of $1.3-billion within 10 years.

However, there are few guidelines that cover the relationship between 
patients, their doctors, clinics specializing in pot prescriptions 
and growers, which, unlike traditional pharmaceutical companies, sell 
their products directly to consumers. Health Canada does not approve 
marijuana as a drug or medicine, but is compelled to regulate it by 
the courts, which have ruled that Canadians must have reasonable 
access to medicalmarijuana.

Mr. Henry says Marijuana for Trauma has a referral agreement with 
licensed producer MedReleaf to help fund its subsidiary, Veterans for 
Healing, which is building a holistic retreat for group members in 
rural New Brunswick. Neil Closner, MedReleaf's CEO, said his company 
doesn't have any such referral agreement but is dedicated to helping 
veterans and will occasionally pay the expenses of PTSD-awareness 
campaigns driven by Mr. Henry's group.

Mr. Henry says he works for free and that his group, like the 
specialized clinics, helps patients navigate the federal medical 
marijuana system and offers further support. He sees no problem with 
licensed producers agreeing to "some sort of profit sharing to 
develop further treatment" for veterans suffering from PTSD at his 
group's four centres in Markham, Ont., Sydney, N.S., St. John's and 
Fredericton.

"Why should I? They're making ... millions off our injury, off of 
Veterans Affairs Canada, they should donate some of that back to 
every veteran group, every legion."

He says his group members are free to choose strains from any 
licensed producer, but added that "if they don't know who's who in 
the industry, then that's my job to ... weed out the bad growers."

So far, Health Canada has said it is "concerned about reports" of 
producers paying for referrals and is "actively looking into the 
issue" to determine if they present a conflict of interest for the 19 
licensed growers, which it expects to "adhere to a high standard of 
ethical conduct."

Mr. Henry says producers view veterans as a small, but lucrative, 
patient stream.

Mr. Engel, Tilray's CEO, acknowledged that executives from his 
U.S.-based parent company, Privateeer Holdings, met with Mr. Henry 
and a number of other groups "in the early days of the industry."

He says the goal was simply to suss out whether there were legitimate 
opportunities to support clinical trials or unrestricted educational 
grants, which are commonplace in the pharmaceutical industry.

Moncton-based producer Organigram announced last November that it had 
entered into an agreement to become the preferred supplier of Trauma 
Healing Centres, a rival group to Mr. Henry's that organizes veterans 
to sign up for marijuana prescriptions in Atlantic Canada, which is 
the region from where almost two-thirds of the 653 veterans using 
medical cannabis hail.

Organigram CEO Denis Arsenault said his company doesn't pay Trauma 
Healing Centres for referrals or share any revenue, but agreed to 
grow particular strains and committed to developing a digital 
application that would help veterans track their treatment.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom