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| General Cannabis News | |||
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Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN) Copyright: 2000 The StarPhoenix Contact: spnews@TheSP.com Address: 204 5th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7K 2P1 Fax: (306) 664-0437 Feedback: http://www.saskstar.sk.ca/template.ihtml?id=letters Website: http://www.saskstar.sk.ca/ Author: Jason Warick | |||
| FEDS HIGH ON CITY FIRM | |||
Saskatoon Grower Picked To Supply Canada's Medical Marijuana A Saskatoon company is now the federal government's exclusive marijuana supplier after it was awarded a five-year, $5.75-million contract on Thursday. Prairie Plant Systems Inc. (PPS) will be expected to supply 185 kilograms of standard marijuana cigarettes and bulk processed marijuana next year, and 420 kilograms per year after that. The drug will be available to the roughly 140 people who have been granted federal medical exemptions so far. Since June of 1999, the federal government has allowed some people to grow and use marijuana as a treatment for diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Some of the PPS marijuana will also be used in research. PPS will also manufacture the placebo pot needed for the clinical trials. "We're happy to get it. It's an exciting time for us," PPS president Brent Zettl said. "It's a landmark in history - the first (contract) in the world of this nature." The pot will be grown, processed, and packaged several hundred metres underground in an unused portion of a copper mine near Flin Flon, Man. It will then be shipped to Ottawa, where Health Canada will decide who gets how much. The 80,000-square-foot subterranean operation offers "genetic containment" as well as security, Zettl said. "There's only one way in and one way out," he said. Zettl credited the federal government for licensing the production of a drug that was completely illegal just a couple of years ago. Morphine is accepted to have a legitimate medical use, and Zettl hopes marijuana will gain the same status. "It's a bold step, but they had to in order to bring this drug into the 21st century," he said. PPS beat out nearly 200 other bidders from across Canada, including 33 finalists. "They were the ones who met all of the requirements," said Roslyn Tremblay of Health Canada. Health Canada evaluated the bidders' ability to supply a quality product in a secure environment. The experience PPS had in growing medicinal plants for human consumption was also a plus, as was the amount of its bid, Tremblay said. A lab at McGill University will handle the quality control testing. The evaluation committee included members from the RCMP, Health Canada, the Department of Agriculture, and others. "Canada is acting compassionately by allowing the use of marijuana by people who are suffering from grave and debilitating illness," federal Health Minister Allan Rock said. Health Canada announced the competition for the contract in May. Many provincial groups expressed interest, including the Meewasin Valley Authority, Saskatchewan Health and individual farmers. | |||
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