cannabisnews.com: Potent Pot Promised





Potent Pot Promised
Posted by FoM on January 10, 2002 at 07:32:06 PT
By Shane Holladay, Edmonton Sun
Source: Edmonton Sun
The first crop of federal medical pot won't hit the streets until spring but will pack enough punch to keep patients satisfied, says the official government grower. It will probably be two or three months before people with medical exemptions will have access to his crop because Health Canada has yet to decide how medical marijuana will be packaged and distributed, said Brent Zettl, president of Prairie Plant Systems. 
Zettl's company operates the federal government's grow operation, buried in a rebuilt and ultra-secure mine a kilometre underground in Flin Flon, Man. "Bearing in mind that nowhere else in the world has this ever been done before, international agreements about controlled substances make this a bit more of an onerous task for Health Canada," said Zettl. Ministry officials need a reliable and secure distribution system that ensures the privacy of medical exemptees entitled under law to use the drug to control their symptoms, said Health Canada spokesman Paige Raymond Kovach. As well, Canada needs to figure out a way to legally provide a drug that it and many other countries have agreed to ban, she said. Critics have said the government's plan to produce its own pot is doomed because it asked for weak weed, from plants with far less of the active ingredient THC than what's available in the street drug. "It will be anything but weak," said Zettl. The federal contract was for a plant with five or six per cent THC content, but Zettl said his last crop tested at about 10%. "My goal is, when they get the stuff and they try it they'll say it really works, that it's good stuff," he said. THC is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, which is one measure of the potency of the drug. Edmonton compassion club operator Munir Ahmad said that compared to pot on the street, which can have between 15% and 20% THC content or more, the government's crop is still only mediocre. "Unless they're virtually giving it away, it's not worth it," said Ahmad. "It's already a waste of money for the government to pay a company to grow what's essentially a weed." Ahmad said many medical exemptees who use his compassion club said they would be more comfortable with a legal source of pot, but only as long as it was either as strong as what's available on the street or cheaper. Medical exemptee Greg, who didn't want his real name used, said he would buy pot off the black market rather than low-potency marijuana from the government. "You can't control the pain with pot that weak," he said. "The government just needs to have a product that is comparable to street-level pot." Medical marijuana 'will be anything but weak,' vows government grower.Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Author: Shane Holladay, Edmonton SunPublished: Thursday, January 10, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: sun.letters ccinet.ab.ca Website: http://www.fyiedmonton.com/edmsun.shtmlRelated Articles & Web Site:FTE's Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmHospitals Rolling On Pot Policieshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11696.shtmlMedicinal-Pot Users Fuming Over Delayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11623.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 10, 2002 at 18:16:42 PT
herbdoc215 
Please don't worry about any mixups. They do happen and they will continue to happen. That's life. That's my 2 cents.
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Comment #7 posted by herbdoc215 on January 10, 2002 at 16:04:32 PT:
Mark Hetherington, not Richards,I'm wrong again!
I talked with Mark and he said they were held up at last minute and they expect delivery soon. My defection from DEAland seems to have had some effect upon seed donation but it's supposed to be cleared up now and 60 day hold released. There is the story as I know it at this time. I hate being such a screw-up and sorry about wrong info seems things change fast and often in Canadain politics. I'm learning though. Steve Tuck 
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on January 10, 2002 at 14:18:06 PT
Cannabuzz
What and where is their Cannabis called Chemo? I never heard of it. I must live under a rock or something to miss some of these things. Thanks.
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Comment #5 posted by Cannabuzz on January 10, 2002 at 14:12:29 PT
"weak pot"? what happened to the infamous...
... Canadian-govt-funded UBC 'Chemo'? A very powerful Indica by anyone's standards.
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Comment #4 posted by herbdoc215 on January 10, 2002 at 12:46:41 PT:
Amazing how fast time fly's when your not in pain.
FoM, Dick always says that and it took me awhile to sink in, but those folks work very slowly ( kinda like the Lord..When things go right it's his will and when not his ways are mysterious? ) and they don't see the clearness of issue because they are blinded by prejudice. Mark is the manager of Prarie Plant sys. and a good man so I don't believe he would bs me. So there really must be some problem, the 'cleanoff' means that seeds went through channels to be legitimized(sp?) whatever that means. Before only legit source was UMISS and that fact messed up getting anything quality to research, so when mine do get through they at least will have some kill. I will call HC tomarrow and let you know what they say. Who knows after all this nothing would suprise me. Real life really is strange than fiction. Steve Tuck
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Comment #3 posted by QcStrt on January 10, 2002 at 12:39:30 PT
Strain
Someone could try to Paten it like every thing eles.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 10, 2002 at 11:50:36 PT
herbdoc215 
That's ok. No problem at all. What is a cleaning off period? That's doesn't make sense to me. Why will it take so long for them to get the herb to the sick people? Spring is a long time from now and even more so if a person is really sick. Each day can seem like a lifetime.
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Comment #1 posted by herbdoc215 on January 10, 2002 at 11:40:21 PT:
Ooops!
FoM, I don't know what's going on but Mark Richardson called me this morning and said those seeds in Flin Flon were not mine? He said CSIS is holding up my seeds for some "cleaning off" period, whatever that means.I was told by a Health Canada official that my seeds were on way there 4 months ago and those sure looked like one of our strains? If they are holding up my seeds, Why? People are dying for lack of this medicine andit seems as HC wants to play games. Why even ask me for them and tell me to hurry as kilo's had to be ready by Jan 02 or default? Sorry about mistake and I will check it out and let you know what the deal is soon. Steve Tuck 
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