Pubdate: Fri, 12 Aug 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Page: A1
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Authors: Gloria Galloway & Mike Hager

HEALTH CANADA TO ALLOW SAFETY TESTING OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Health Canada is easing its prohibitions against safety testing of 
medical marijuana, which will allow registered growers and patients 
to have the product scrutinized at federally certified laboratories 
to ensure it is safe.

The federal government plans to legalize marijuana for recreational 
use next year, and the move will give added protection in an 
unregulated market to consumers, many of whom worry that some 
marijuana being sold as medicine could contain harmful contaminants.

Hundreds of storefront dispensaries have sprung up across the 
country, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver. The government 
considers them illegal, and had no oversight of their products, 
leaving medical users with no way to ensure their safety. The 
government did not allow patients access to federal labs capable of 
detecting potentially harmful contaminants.

"In recognition of the health and safety value of testing, the 
department is currently working to enable registered persons to 
access testing services for their own dried or fresh marijuana or 
cannabis oil," Health Canada spokesman Eric Morrissette said in an 
e-mail. "This would enable individuals to have more information about 
the potency of the strains they are producing (i.e. THC and CBD 
levels), as well as information about any contaminants (e.g. heavy 
metals, microbial) or residues in their product."

The shift follows a Globe and Mail investigation into the contents of 
marijuana from nine unregulated Toronto dispensaries. Tests showed 
that three of nine samples of dried cannabis would not meet Health 
Canada's safety standards for licensed growers - with one strain 
showing signs of potentially harmful yeasts and mould. That 
investigation also revealed that labs have been warned not to test 
samples provided by anyone other than a licensed producer - a threat 
taken so seriously that the lab that tested for The Globe did so on 
condition that the newspaper would not identify it.

Much of the marijuana supplied to the dispensaries is suspected to 
come from the thousands of home growers who were licensed under a 
system that pre-dated efforts by the former Conservative government 
to force patients to turn to a handful of commercial producers. As 
the fight against that restriction progressed through the courts, 
those previously licensed home-growers were granted rolling 
injunctions to continue producing their own pot, sometimes in single 
crops of more than 100 plants each.

On Thursday, Health Canada said it is providing "an immediate 
solution" to a Federal Court ruling earlier this year that a ban on 
homegrown marijuana violated a patient's Charter right to life, 
liberty and security of the person and ordered the federal government 
to make the drug more accessible and affordable.

Under the new regime, which takes effect on Aug. 24, patients who 
consume a gram a day - about the average prescription, according to 
Health Canada - can expect to be allowed to grow about two plants 
outdoors or five indoors (the two environments produce different 
yields). The licensed producers will remain the sole legal source of 
seeds and plants.

Health Canada officials said on Thursday that the licensed 
home-growers covered by the injunctions may continue producing the 
number of plants they currently grow - because processing all of the 
country's medical marijuana users under the new system would swamp 
government officials.

"We would only seek to lift the injunction once we are confident that 
we could actually process the applications from individuals who are 
covered," said Jacqueline Bogden, assistant deputy minister for the 
department's cannabis legalization and regulation branch.

However, under the new rules, a dispensary may still be able to get 
marijuana illegally from these same growers and advertise that it has 
been tested by a Health Canada-approved lab.

However, Ms. Bogden said the dispensaries, storefronts and so-called 
compassion clubs that have proliferated in Canada's major cities 
remain illegal.

"So, if you are an individual who requires access to medical cannabis 
today," she said, "you can do that through one of the 34 licensed 
producers by Health Canada and you can be assured that what you are 
getting is produced in a safe and quality controlled manner."

The Federal Court case that prompted the changes was launched by four 
B.C. patients who challenged the constitutionality of the former 
Conservative government's 2014 overhaul of the medical marijuana 
system saying the commercial product was too expensive for them.

Kirk Tousaw, the Nanaimo-based lawyer who helped win their case, said 
the Liberal government has offered a "robust response" that is a big 
improvement from the past government's responses to losing decisions 
on the file.

"I am very pleased that my well-earned pessimism and cynicism about 
the government's medical cannabis actions have proven to be wrong 
with the new Liberal government," he said.

But some of the licensed commercial producers - who grow their 
medical cannabis in large, secure facilities and mail it to about 
60,000 patients - are not happy with the changes. Brent Zettl, the 
head of CanniMed Ltd., the first licensed commercial producer, called 
them a step backward for patients.

"There is no quality control, there is no inspection, there is no 
oversight," he said. "So, at the end of the day you are going to ask 
yourself the question, well, you are granting them access to 
marijuana, but is it really medical?"

Colette Rivet, the executive director of the Cannabis Canada 
Association, which represents commercial growers, said home-growing 
creates increased risks of fire and home invasion.

"There are also potential negative impacts on the neighbours, the 
landlords, local services and law enforcement," Ms. Rivet said. "And, 
of course, the other thing is security clearances to make sure the 
home growers have no ties with organized crime would be a good 
consideration, because it has been related in the past."

The Canadian Pharmacists Association said it is disappointed that the 
government missed an "important opportunity to improve patient access 
and safety" by not allowing its members to manage and dispense 
medical marijuana - although it is encouraged that Health Canada is 
considering that as a potential option.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom