cannabisnews.com: Allan Rock Tours Manitoba Medicinal Pot Mine 





Allan Rock Tours Manitoba Medicinal Pot Mine 
Posted by FoM on August 02, 2001 at 12:08:48 PT
By John Cotter
Source: Vancouver Sun
Like a proud farmer admiring a bumper crop, Health Minister Allan Rock was all smiles Thursday as he went deep underground to tour Canada's only legal marijuana growing operation. Riding on a special vehicle, Rock and his entourage snaked down through the dark silence of an old copper mine shaft for 15 minutes to a bustling hydroponic lab carved out of the rock hundreds of metres below the surface. There, under tight security and beneath the blinding glare of powerful grow lights, a forest of vibrant green plants burst from containers, filling the chamber with a musky sweetness. 
"It's an incredible experience to see this operation," Rock said as he watched expert growers baby the plants that will provide the roots of Canada's new medicinal marijuana policy. "It's obvious that we have good growth. I'm quite impressed." Soon staff at the remote site 650 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg will begin harvesting the bedrock buds for tests that will determine their potency and other chemical properties. After some clinical trials, the marijuana will be made available as early as February to the terminally ill and people suffering from serious diseases who want to use it as a pain reliever - if they qualify. Canada's new medicinal marijuana policy, which came into effect on Monday, allows people who have been granted an exemption from narcotics laws to possess pot and grow it or have someone grow it for them. So far less than 300 people have been approved with another 500 applications pending. Critics claim the exemption policy is too restrictive, that the mine won't produce enough pot to meet demand and that the pot won't be strong enough to deaden the pain of people suffering from AIDS and multiple sclerosis. Others say the subterranean grow operation, run under contract by Prairie Plant Systems of Saskatoon, is a $5.7-million absurdity when most Canadians can easily obtain pot in their own communities. The mine has brought international headlines and prompted some groups to hold Canada's policy up as an example of compassion that other governments should follow. In the United States, where a person can be sent to jail for as much as a year for possession of a joint and five years for growing a plant, pro-marijuana lobby groups publicly praised Ottawa. "The Canadian government is permitting medical use, cultivation and distribution," said Chuck Thomas, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington D.C. "It is a shame the United States government is falling so far behind the curve. The U.S. government gives patients two options: suffer or go to jail." People in Flin Flon don't quite know what to make of all the attention their community of 7,000 is getting, or of the hot-selling T-shirts that proclaim it as the marijuana growing capital of Canada. For 75 years their fortunes have been dictated by the fluctuating price of ore processed by the huge zinc-copper mine now operated by the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company. Mayor Dennis Ballard said so far the marijuana mine has only created about a dozen jobs and most of the profits will flow out of the area. But he is convinced that could all change if the project is successful. "It could be a godsend. It is the potential down the line that really impresses me," he said. "The size of the chamber they are operating in means they can expand by 10 times." Still, some longtime Flin Flon residents scoff at the idea that there is much of a future in underground marijuana growing. Gordon Wells and his pal Rod Rutherford chuckled over their coffee at Johnny's Confectionary when asked if the pot mine will help Flin Flon. "It's just a big fuss over nothing," Wells said. "Everybody just laughs about it." Rutherford, who worked at the copper mine for 30 years before retiring, frowned and pointed out the window toward the massive Hudson Bay smelter smokestack that looms over the town. "It is just an experiment," he said. "The future of this town is that stack." A chronology on the development of Canada's only legal marijuana growing operating in Flin Flon, Man.: July 2000 - Ontario Court of Appeal upholds lower court decision striking down prohibition on possessing marijuana in case of Terrence Parker, an epileptic who used the drug for pain relief. December 2000 - Federal government awards Prairie Plant Systems Inc. of Saskatoon a five-year, $5.7 million contract to provide Health Canada with a reliable source of standardized marijuana to meet medical and research needs. Plants to be grown in an old copper mine in Flin Flon, Man. July 30, 2001 - Marijuana Medical Access Regulations come into force. They establish a framework to allow the use of marijuana by people who are suffering from serious illnesses. To come: August 2001 - Mine staff to begin harvesting the first batch of marijuana plants grown in a hydroponic lab in the mine. Most of the initial batch will be used for testing to establish potency guidelines for the drug. February 2002 - Patients who have received exemptions under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to receive first supply of marijuana from mine. The drug will be available in pre-rolled joints and in loose form for those who prefer to ingest it in tea or in food. Complete Title: Federal Health Minister Allan Rock Tours Manitoba Medicinal Pot Mine Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)Author: John CotterPublished: Thursday, August 2, 2001 Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2001Contact: sunletters pacpress.southam.caWebsite: http://www.vancouversun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Prairie Plant Systemshttp://www.prairieplant.com/ Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmAllan Rock To Tour Manitoba Marijuana Minehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10453.shtmlMining The Depths For Dope http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10434.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by KEv on April 03, 2002 at 10:05:28 PT:
med pot
its nice to see freedom in action boy it sure makes america look like its still in the stone ages. our problem here seems to be religon so naturally there,s a lack of it.maybe its because weve been hireing descendants of the kkk any how ty for makeing america look like the christian fascists that they are . between the pot laws an the fake terrorist attacks we must look like real assholes to the educated world thank you again for being what america wont be a free nation 
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Comment #3 posted by toomuch on April 02, 2002 at 18:48:57 PT:
GREAT JOB CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!
GREAT JOB CANADA! ITS ABOUT TIME POT WAS RECOGNIZED FORMALLY FOR ITS USES! LETS HOPE AMERICA WILL FOLLOW SUIT! KEEP IT UP CANADA!!!!!!!!
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Comment #2 posted by lizzard3901 on April 02, 2002 at 18:22:55 PT:
gods sweet green plant
i am a man of few words,things werentput her for usage things were put here for enjoyment, however fairy few things were put here for both usage and enjoyment,gods sweet green plant fits into that catagory----usage and enjoyment toke em up folks 
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Comment #1 posted by salamandress on April 02, 2002 at 18:05:33 PT:
CANADA ROXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!
ITS GREAT TOO SEE CANADA GROWING WEED FOR THE SICK PATIENTS ITS ABOUT TIME I SAY, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK IM PROUD TO BE A CANADIAN!!!!!!! AND HOPEFULLY ONE DAY THEY WILL LEGALIZE IT ITS JUST A MATTER OF TIME.MARIJUANA WAS CREATED FOR US TO DEAL WITH THIS CRAPPY WORLD WE LIVE IN.ADAM AND EVE USE TO SMOKE IT SO DID PICASSO HOW YOU THINK HE GOT ALL THOSE STRANGE PICTURES HAHA WELL TOKE IT EASY CANADA RULES SO DOES FLYNN FLON MANITOBA !!!!!!!!! KEEP GROWING CANADA!!!!!!! 
SALAMANDRESS MARIJUANA CHAT
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