Government-Produced Medicinal Marijuana May Be Harming Users, According To A Patient Rights Organisation. A recent test conducted by Canadians For Safe Access reveals that the quality of medicinal grade cannabis produced by Health Canada could seriously compromise the existing health of patients with chronic medical conditions. Several patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other terminal or chronic ilnesses and diseases presently use the cannabis, which Health Canada began distributing in late August. The CFSA's findings raise serious questions about the quality and safety of the cannabis, produced by Prarie Plant Systems. The test results showed that the cannabis contained significant amounts heavy metal contaminants, such as lead and arsenic. Although the cannabis is sterilised through irradiation, the government sample showed significant levels of bacteria and fungus-producing micro-organisms, known as colony forming units. The amounts were 10 times higher than those found in a sample of privately grown organic cannabis. [continues 473 words]
On Monday and Tuesday, September 22 and 23, 2003, Cheryl Miller's family and friends will join with medical marijuana supporters in Washington, D.C. to memorialize her life and contributions to the medical marijuana movement. http://cheryldcmemorial.org/ If you can't be there, take some time Sept. 23 to call your representative about federal medical marijuana legislation. http://cheryldcmemorial.org/phone_slam.htm A DrugSense Focus Alert. [continues 474 words]
You can tell it stings. Brent Zettl has a degree in agriculture, for crying out loud. And to have his customers slagging his marijuana as second-rate shwag (skunk, ditchweed, Flin Flon windowbox, whatever) wounds his professional pride. "If you knew how hard we've been working on this, the concerted efforts for three years to come up with a consistent product, the pride we take in this . you'd understand how we feel," Zettl said yesterday. "We can make a product here as good as, or better than, anything grown anywhere in the country. If Health Canada wants a more potent strain, all they have to do is ask." [continues 663 words]
Brent Zettl, the president of Prairie Plant Systems, says he isn't told by Health Canada the names of the end-users of the marijuana his company grows in an abandoned mine in Flin Flon. But if he could call them up and talk to them, Zettl would assure them the pot Prairie Plant Systems delivered to Health Canada under its $5.75-million contract averages about 10 per cent in THC content. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana. It's certainly not the three per cent claimed by Web site medicalmarihuana.ca, said Zettl. The site carried an article which states it sent a sample of medical marijuana to a lab to compare it with a sample grown by or for the Vancouver Island Compassion Club Society. A Canadian Press article Tuesday also quoted a handful of users as well as patients' rights group Canadians for Safe Access that were dissatisfied with the product. [continues 331 words]
Ottawa - Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it." Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach. [continues 417 words]
OTTAWA -- Some of the first patients smoking Health Canada's government- approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes -- and that was it." Barrie Dalley, 52, of Toronto, who uses marijuana to combat nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach. [continues 159 words]
Ottawa Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it." Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach. [continues 506 words]
Some of First Patients Want Their Money Back SOME of the first patients to smoke Flin Flon's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it." Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach. [continues 712 words]
Cannabis Emptor: Medical Marijuana Called Disgusting, Weak And Ineffective OTTAWA (CP) -- Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it." Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach. [continues 530 words]
First Patients To Use Federally Approved Marijuana Give It Scathing Reviews OTTAWA -- Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it." Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach. [continues 395 words]
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's government-grown marijuana is unfit for human consumption and makes some patients sick, people who have tried it said on Tuesday. The federal government has permitted more than 600 Canadians to legally buy medical marijuana, the first country in the world to do so. They are patients whose doctors prescribed pot after conventional treatments failed. "It's not marijuana, it's ground-up stems, twigs and beads and it's not fit for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, who uses marijuana to battle AIDS symptoms. "The marijuana was offensive and obnoxious smelling, it was not helpful and it gave me bad headaches the two times I tried it." [continues 211 words]
Cannabis Emptor: Medical Marijuana Called Disgusting, Weak And Ineffective OTTAWA (CP) -- Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it." Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach. [continues 531 words]
OTTAWA (CP) - Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it." Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach. [continues 1309 words]
The president of the Yukon Medical Association (YMA) won't soon prescribe medicinal marijuana, even if federal courts have guaranteed that Health Canada will be a willing supplier. Advocates for the ready access to medicinal marijuana aren't pleased either with the last-minute decision made on July 9. Dr. Wayne MacNicol is the president of the YMA and an obstetrician-gynecologist at Whitehorse General Hospital. He has been provided with information from Health Canada on how he should go about prescribing marijuana to his patients. [continues 1769 words]
Just 16 Of 582 Buyers Apply BURLINGTON, Ont. -- Canada's licensed medical marijuana users aren't exactly crashing down the doors to buy the government's stash. Nearly two weeks after Health Canada said it would sell dried marijuana and seeds to licensed medical users, just 16 of 582 potential buyers have submitted applications, said Jirina Vlk, a ministry representative. The ministry's office of cannabis medical access announced July 9 it would sell its stash, and posted application forms on the Internet that day. [continues 731 words]
OTTAWA (CP) -- Health Canada's medical marijuana program seems gripped by chaos after the departure of its boss, Cindy Cripps-Prawak. Cripps-Prawak left her job as director of the Office of Medical Access last week, Health Canada spokeswoman Jirina Vlk confirmed Wednesday. It's the second recent resignation to hit the marijuana program. Dr. Greg Robinson, who is an AIDS patient, resigned from Health Canada's advisory committee because of what he described as inconsistencies in the access program. Cripps-Prawak's move last Friday came two days after the department introduced a plan to distribute medical marijuana through doctors' offices. [continues 465 words]
OTTAWA -- Health Canada's medical marijuana program seems gripped by chaos after the departure of its boss, Cindy Cripps-Prawak. Ms. Cripps-Prawak left her job as director of the Office of Cannabis Medical Access last week, Health Canada spokeswoman Jirina Vlk confirmed yesterday. It's the second recent resignation from the marijuana program. Greg Robinson, a doctor who has AIDS, resigned from Health Canada's advisory committee because of what he described as inconsistencies in the access program. Ms. Cripps-Prawak left last Friday, two days after the department introduced a plan to distribute medical marijuana through doctors' offices. The interim plan was introduced in response to an Ontario court ruling that patients had to be given some legal means of obtaining the drug, and doctors and patients have criticized it with equal vehemence. [continues 404 words]
Medical marijuana plan's top boss leaves OTTAWA -- Health Canada's medical marijuana program seems gripped by chaos after the departure of its boss, Cindy Cripps-Prawak. Cripps-Prawak left her job as director of the Office of Medical Access last week, Health Canada spokesman Jirina Vlk confirmed yesterday. It's the second recent resignation to hit the marijuana program. Dr. Greg Robinson, who is an AIDS patient, resigned from Health Canada's advisory committee because of what he described as inconsistencies in the access program. [continues 443 words]
OTTAWA - Doctors will be allowed to dispense medicinal marijuana from their offices under a federal plan that drew criticism last week from medical officials and patients. As early as Thursday, the government will start delivering the drug to doctors treating up to 582 Canadians who have the right to use it. The drug will be in the form of seeds - so patients can grow it themselves - or mature cannabis cultivated at an abandoned mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba. The marijuana will sell for $3.64 (U.S.) per gram, well below the estimated street value of $7.27 to $18.18, and the seeds for $14.55 per bag of 30. [continues 615 words]
No Permanent Regulations in Place OTTAWA - Health Canada is getting into the business of selling marijuana to the sick, even while police continue to bust people for growing or dealing the drug illegally. Under an interim policy announced Wednesday, the government will sell bags of marijuana seeds and dried marijuana to sick patients who qualify under Ottawa's medical pot program. The announcement came on the day an Ontario court judge set as the deadline for the federal government to come up with regulations for distributing medical marijuana. [continues 408 words]
