Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jan 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Daniel Leblanc, With a report from Mike Hager in Vancouver
Page: 3

AVOIDING A MARIJUANA 'WILD WEST'

Country's Biggest Medical Growers Say Only Licensed Firms Should 
Provide Pot to Recreational Users at First

The biggest growers of medical marijuana in Canada want to be first 
in line when the market for recreational pot opens up, arguing that 
only they can guarantee a high-quality product that is securely 
distributed by mail.

The operators of the Canopy Growth Corp. and Tweed Marijuana Inc. 
want the federal government to shut down the pot dispensaries that 
are popping up around the country. Instead, they argue, the strictly 
regulated and licensed firms in the medical field should be the first 
ones allowed to provide marijuana to recreational users.

The new lobbying campaign is aimed at the top Liberal officials who 
will devise plans to legalize marijuana in Canada, mainly MP Bill 
Blair, the former Toronto police chief who is the government's point 
person on the file.

The firms want Canada to avoid the "wild west" system that exists in 
some U.S. states, and simply start by expanding the existing model 
that supplies medical marijuana across the country.

"If the government wants to introduce a controlled system, which they 
have said they would do, this - or something very similar to this - 
is the system they will follow," said Mark Zekulin, president of Tweed Inc.

Located in Smith Falls, southwest of Ottawa, Tweed operates a large 
medical-marijuana facility in a former chocolate factory. The 
multi-million-dollar plant is part of a network of facilities owned 
by the publicly listed Canopy Growth Corp., including one in Mr. 
Blair's Scarborough riding.

The CEO of Canopy Growth, Bruce Linton, said his firm produces about 
25 per cent of Canada's supply of medical marijuana.

The Tweed factory is surrounded by fences and razor wire, and 
includes a vault that can contain 15,000 kilograms of marijuana - 
worth about $150-million. The thousands of plants in the facility are 
carefully nurtured, grown without pesticides, slowly dried and tested 
before being shipped by mail to clients.

Each shipment of marijuana offers a precise percentage of THC and 
CBDs, the chemicals that offer a buzz but also medical benefits to 
users. Mr. Zekulin said recreational users of marijuana deserve the 
same level of quality as medical users, given the Liberal 
government's promise to "legalize, regulate and restrict access" to 
the drug. "If you accept as a starting point that you should have 
secure production, traceability, and keeping it away from criminal 
elements and out of the hands of children, then you can't have 
unregulated shops opening on street corners all over the country 
where the regulation is, basically, 'Trust me,' " he said.

Canopy Growth has been working since December with lobbyists from 
Ensight Canada to persuade the government to start producing 
recreational pot along the same lines as medical marijuana.

They propose that marijuana be sold to adults who are at least 19 
years old, arguing that Canada Post, with its ability to check the 
age of its clients, should be the first distributor. Over time, 
according to this proposal, the sale of recreational marijuana could 
be expanded to provincially regulated outlets that already sell 
alcohol. The proposal would limit production of legal marijuana to 
large facilities, leaving out small shops such as the ones in 
Colorado that sell their own products.

"In Colorado, they started off with a really open system, and now 
they are looking for ways to contract the system, based on lessons 
learned," Mr. Zekulin said. "We don't have to go through that 
process. We can move incrementally and then expand the system."

Tweed Inc. has plenty of room to expand. The current facility has 12 
grow rooms, and the capacity to add another 18. The firm sells its 
medical product - made up of dried flowers or "buds" - for $6 to $12 
a gram. It is working to obtain a licence from Health Canada to sell 
cannabis oil, which is easier to use for many patients.

Under rules designed by the Conservative government, mail is the only 
legal way to obtain medical marijuana from one of 27 producers that 
have been licensed by Health Canada.

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said on Thursday in Vancouver 
that mailing recreational marijuana will remain illegal until the 
legislation changes.

Jamie Shaw, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis 
Dispensaries trade organization, said illegal storefront sales of 
marijuana have bloomed because the medical-marijuana system "needs to 
be fixed."

"If you can prove that there's a better model for patients, and the 
public at large, than dispensaries, then, great, we would have to 
look at that and support that," said Ms. Shaw, who works for Canada's 
oldest dispensary in Vancouver. Ms. Shaw said she could see licensed 
producers mailing products, both recreational and medicinal, to those 
in rural areas under-served by dispensaries.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom