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| Medical Marijuana is Bad Weed |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 08, 2002 at 07:52:43 PT By Mark Kennedy, Saskatoon StarPhoenix Source: StarPhoenix 
Oops! The official supply of federal pot is bad weed. So impure, in fact, that the first crop contains 185 different varieties of pot. Hardly the stuff a health minister would want to provide to a seriously ill patient to relieve their symptoms.Health Minister Anne McLellan revealed the "problem" Tuesday, saying it is responsible for the delay -- which could last at least several more months -- for getting the department's much-heralded plan off the ground to provide marijuana to Canadians who need it for medicinal purposes. Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #13 posted by dddd on June 05, 2002 at 14:26:14 PT |
| ...There's only one explanation for this shady deal,, and that is ;collusion!...I'm becoming convinced that the Canadian government is infested with alot of the same type of bilksters who infest the US empire!...dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by Loren Wiberg on June 05, 2002 at 13:41:04 PT |
| When the initial contract was awarded to PPS we at ZYX Corporation noticed many irregularities, but we selected to wait rather than going to the media and being seen as "sour grapes".
However these latest revelations certainly appear to be show the contract did not go to the best bidder.
Our bid was better in terms of:
Price 5.27M vs 5.75M, plus demolition savings of almost 2,000,000, and the loss of the purchase/lease price of 341,000. Quality - the PPS guys are not able to meet the most basic contract requirement, i.e. 5.0% - 6.0% standard. - our proposal demonstrated a method of standardization to with extreme tolerances. Technology - we would have employed state of the art computerized hydroponics, the drop seeds into soil. I am currently creating a list of dozens more items like these ones. loren.wiberg@shaw.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alberta Report Magazine June 10, 2002 Up Front By Colby Cosh The marijuana that went to pot In September 2000 we told you about Loren Wiberg, a businessman from Innisfail, Alta., who was seeking the Health Canada contract to grow legal marijuana for medical purposes. Mr. Wiberg's idea was to grow the weed hydroponically in the Diefenbunker near Red Deer, one of the abandoned underground nuclear-safe structures built during the worst days of the Cold War. The government wanted to demolish the Diefenbunker, but Mr. Wiberg's research showed that it was in good shape. Fixing it up with the necessary heat, electricity and security arrangements to grow herb would be a snap. Alas, Mr. Wiberg (pictured outside the bunker) lost the contract and the Diefenbunker was demolished at considerable expense. The contract instead went to Prairie Plant Systems Inc. of Saskatoon, which agreed to provide standardized marijuana under the terms of the contract. The announced cost was $5.7 million. Mystifyingly, this figure was considerably higher than Mr. Wiberg's $5.27-million bid; what is more, he could have spared Public Works and Government Services Canada the trouble of filling in the Diefenbunker. Still, he did not take it too hard. But on May 9, Health Minister Anne McLellan told the Commons health committee that PPS's first crop is basically useless. The seeds were taken from police-seized plants and the harvest contains 185 different varieties of cannabis, all with varying amounts of the active ingredient, THC. World newspapers guffawed at the government that couldn't even grow marijuana as well as your neighbour's stoned nephew. But PPS president Brent Zettl defends his company's effort. The problem, he says, is not that the pot is no good--rather, it is too good. The contract called for marijuana with a THC content between 5% and 6%, but Dr. Zettl, untroubled by a scrap of paper, says his weed's 9.5%-11% strength is more appropriate for clinical research material. Not to mention bongs! Your correspondent, who interviewed Mr. Wiberg in 2000, remembered that the Wiberg bid had proposed to tailor the marijuana to within extremely fine THC tolerances. Mr. Wiberg confirms the recollection as does the text of our story, in which he was quoted as saying, "We intend to separate the flowers, the pollen, the resin--all the elements of the plant. We can recombine those to give the government whatever level of THC they want." "It's a very difficult process", he now says, "but we believe we could have nailed the THC content to within one part in a thousand." Mr. Wiberg made it clear in his proposal that he was prepared to demonstrate this ability to government scientists. Since his bid was lower and could have saved the cost of trashing the Diefenbunker, why wasn't he given the chance? There must be a good reason. After all, the federal minister responsible for public works who selected the winning bid was national treasure and icon of probity Alfonso Gagliano, now our Ambassador to Denmark. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #11 posted by Loren Wiberg on June 05, 2002 at 13:37:08 PT:
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| It seems that PPS, prairie Plant Systems are not even able to solve the basic science of producing a standard 5.0% to 6.0% product. This after several delays. How did they get the contract when other bidders, including my own ZYX Corporation, offered the government lower priced marijuana with better quality controls and not grown in a mine filled with dangerous heavy metals? ZYX Corporation even offered to produce additional product at a standard 10%, 15% 20% and 25% at the same price of $2.83 per gram. We also offered to make marijuana available to exemptees at cost or even for free from our share of the profits. Wait until you see the article that Alberta Report just wrote, June 10, 2002 issue. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #10 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 09, 2002 at 11:07:32 PT:
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| I asssume your question is a rhetorical one. I can suggest a couple of possible answers: 1) Uncle Sam is massively twisting Canada's arm, while simultaneously squeezing gonads. 2) The hesitancy of Canada's physicians to embrace the cause of clinical cannabis is disturbing progress. What has been said: At a point when cannabis preparations are accepted in the UK and Western Europe as prescription medicines, their data will be accepted in Canada, paving the way for drug approval there. Court decisions in Canada could expedite the pace of change. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by project419 on May 09, 2002 at 10:15:41 PT |
| It's kind of hard to believe that Canada is having a hard time finding pot to give to people. Thats like Rosie O'donnel claiming that she can't find any food...those stupid people are messing this up...pot is seized everyday...why don't they just give the sick people some of the pot they confiscate...? [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #8 posted by el_toonces on May 08, 2002 at 21:00:35 PT:
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| Ethan -- I was wondering if those options were available to Health Canada, why would they not take them given the delay in the Flin Flon mine? Dr. Ware made it sound like the government was being as helpful as a bureacratic beast can be so I am puzzled by recent news from our Northern neighbor. I am also interested because this 'neighbor' is only 20 minutes away by car. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by Naaps on May 08, 2002 at 16:27:40 PT |
| Kaptinemo understands the historic role and hope of Canada being different, so that we Canadians can determine our own policies, including drug policies. The problem is that the current Liberal government has been pursuing ‘harmonization’, that is the next phase of NAFTA, also known as NAFTA+. There are plans to harmonize our immigration policies, our common border with America would disappear, being replaced with a perimeter defense, Canadian and American personnel would jointly staff all ports of entry. Also, on the table is possibly adopting the American dollar. Even our Bill of Rights and Constitution have been cited by some as potential hindrances, which may have to be scrapped. Our laws would need to harmonize with America’s. Our military already takes its orders from American Commanders. Canadian Intelligence Officers fluent in Spanish are send to Brownsville Texas, listening to intercepted Radio Communications from Latin America. A watchdog of the Canadian Intelligence Service was taken by surprise to hear that this has been happening for several years. He asked how we can expect to be sovereign when we cede so much. Look at the RCMP happily embracing the DEA. Believe me, I shudder at the thought of tossing away our Canadian heritage, but the larger goal would be for North America to be a massive economic zone. This is something discussed behind closed doors, not divulged readily, and certainly not brought to the public for input and consultation. Hopefully harmonization doesn’t occur. Not because I’m against America, which isn’t the case - my job is directly tied to a very large American Corporation, I love some American professional sports, and always am happy to meet Americans visiting ‘Vansterdam’. I understand the importance of diversity. With Canada distinct and unique compared to America, we could develop our own policies, particularly those concerning us here – compassionate and made in Canada drug policies. Alas, our economic fortunes are tied so closely to America that it erodes our opportunity to act independently. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by goneposthole on May 08, 2002 at 16:04:56 PT |
| Everyday, you wake up it is the same day. Prohibition of cannabis, same old goobledygook staring everybody in the face. Same old weather report looking down at you. The entire world hopes something different will result but nothing ever does. Just more flimflam, more junk rhetoric to discard. A cloudy grey sky, the sun shines just long enough for the groundhog to see his shadow. He spots it and scurries right back to his hole. He waits another six weeks for winter to end. The next day will be groundhog day, the same thing all over again. The simpleton Indian brave, Dog-Chasing-Tail, never really quite understands what is happening. He just keeps on a chasing his tail. All contrived, all planned to make you think you will be able to someday break free of the game. Although, it never happens. Never does, never will. Just more of the same old same old is all you ever get. More drugs, more money, more war, more death, more crooked politicians promising nothing, just the run around you always get. Nothing ever really is crystal clear, always foggy reasoning, always an unreal world that might be real; no darkness, no light and not really twilight. The one that really kills me is this: A hundred nuclear bombs in suitcases in the United States. Yet, nobody really knows. Yippy, skippy Cursed blessings
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| Comment #5 posted by schmeff on May 08, 2002 at 15:32:12 PT |
| That meant Prairie Plant Systems of Saskatoon, the officially sanctioned grower who harvested the pot at an underground mine in Flin Flon, Man., was left using seeds obtained by police, who confiscated it during their law enforcement work. Cannabis Horticulture 101: If there's seed in your weed, you probably ain't got the good shit. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by floyd on May 08, 2002 at 14:20:37 PT:
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| I completely agree, kaptinemo.
I am Canadian, and nothing makes me prouder than my countries' history of compassion, not conformity.
I am outraged at the current lack of backbone in Canada's federal government. What I dont understand is why arent more of theseissues just put straight to vote?
Why the *&#^$*&# does the government bicker and fight internally about legalization? Isnt the peoples' say?!?
I know Canadians, given the chance, would vote vastly in favor of pushing the medicinal issue through, America be damned. But how can this happen if they wont let us decide??!!?!? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by schmeff on May 08, 2002 at 09:38:19 PT |
| ...just as soon as we re-invent the wheel. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on May 08, 2002 at 09:17:49 PT:
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| ...that Health Canada doesn't know what it's doing...deliberately. Unless, of course, they are just naturally incompetent, instead of just feigning it. I would submit that the UN Single Convention treaty was not the primary factor in this latest debacle. It's a convenient excuse...but that's all that it is. Other nations such as The Netherlands have in effect done precisely what the Chretien Regime in Ottawa was (ostensibly) shivering in its' boots in fear of doing. The real reason is Canadian Liberal Party wimpishness vis-a-vis the US. The recent passing of M. Pierre Trudeau brings to mind just how craven the Liberals have become; during the Viet Nam War, draft evaders found welcome in Canada...with continual US growling about it for years. Did the Canadian government back down? Did it close the borders? Remand the refugees back to US custody? Nope...it just went right on ...being Canada. Now, the Stars and Stripes might as well fly over Ottawa. If you have to ask 'pretty please, may I have some crappy seeds?' from NIDA/DEA when your own cannabis industry was willing to give you top quality seeds for friggin' FREE, then you don't own your country any more; Uncle does. Don't like the taste of that? Then you know what you have to do... [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 08, 2002 at 08:41:38 PT:
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| Testing requires things being tried by the patients, what is known as "bio-assay." Once again, a great deal of precious time in these situations could be saved by using clones from the experts on clinical cannabis, women such as Hilary Black and Valerie Corral, who have been successfully treating patients for years. Health Canada has also had the option to extend to Canada the clinical trials of GW Pharmaceuticals' CBME (cannabis-based medicine extracts). That would be a quality-controlled standardized medicine with a proven clinical track record. [ Post Comment ] |
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