cannabisnews.com: Sick Canadians To Smoke Sub-Standard Marijuana Sick Canadians To Smoke Sub-Standard Marijuana Posted by FoM on February 10, 2001 at 06:52:04 PT By Glen McGregor, The Ottawa Citizen Source: Ottawa Citizen Health Canada will provide researchers with a weakened grade of medical marijuana that could force test subjects to ingest more toxic smoke to gain any benefit from the drug. The Health Department recently gave out a $5.75 million contract to a Saskatchewan firm to produce marijuana for use in clinical trials. The marijuana will allow researchers to test the drug's effectiveness in treating the symptoms of serious illnesses like AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis. But in tendering the contract, Health Canada specified an allowable concentration of the active ingredient, THC, between five and six per cent --lower than the concentration typically found in the home-grown variety which can be more than five times as potent. "It baffles me why they would go to the trouble of creating marijuana at a lower level than the natural plant," says Steven Bacon, a Hepatitis C sufferer who is one of 140 Canadians to receive a special exemption from the government to smoke cannabis to control symptoms. "You must get out of your sickbed and go smoke sub-standard marijuana in order to get it at all," Mr. Bacon said. The marijuana produced for Health Canada would also be available to those, like Mr. Bacon, who receives a special exemption based on medical need. In return for the free pot, they will be required to provide feedback on the effect of the drugs on their illness. But anyone who gets the government grass will have to smoke much more than home-grown marijuana to get the same medicinal benefit as home-grown, Mr. Bacon says. They will also have to inhale more of the 2,000 chemicals and toxins contained in cannabis smoke. "I would have to smoke more, and my lungs would get filled with more crap," Mr. Bacon said. "That's not compassionate access to marijuana that (Health Minister) Allan Rock talks about all the time." According to the U.S. National Institute of Health, the average concentration of THC in a marijuana plant runs about three per cent. But the variety favoured by most medicinal smokers, made from just the buds and flowering tops of female plants, has an average concentration of 7.5 per cent and can be as high as 24 per cent. "It certainly is an inferior product," said Loren Wiberg, whose Alberta-based company ZYX Corp. unsuccessfully bid on the production contract. "The stuff that some of these people are growing for medical purposes can be up to 25 per cent THC," Mr. Wiberg said. "They're saying why would the government want them to smoke four times as much? It supposed to be for health and they have to get all this tar and other stuff at a rate of 4:1." But Roslyn Tremblay, a spokeswoman for Health Canada, says it was important to establish a consistent THC concentration for research purposes. The level was based on previous scientific research. "The five to six per cent was decided upon on the basis of most of the literature we could see," she said. The production contract does allow Health Canada to ask for higher or lower THC concentrations after the first year of production. Ms. Tremblay said that anyone granted a medical exemption would have the option of using the Health Canada product or growing their own. Prairie Plant Systems of Saskatoon is contracted to produce 2,000 kilograms of research-grade marijuana over five years. The plants will be grown hydroponically in a secure mine shaft in Flin Flon, Manitoba. The first clinical trials are to begin in about a year. Drug produced for Health Canada five times less potent than home-grown.Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)Author: Glen McGregor, The Ottawa CitizenPublished: February 10, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Ottawa CitizenAddress: 1101 Baxter Rd.,Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 3M4Fax: 613-596-8522Contact: letters thecitizen.southam.ca Website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Related Article & Web Site:Health Canadahttp://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/Easing Nausea for Cancer Patients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8598.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by Narcoleptic on February 14, 2001 at 00:25:37 PT cause it's just so hard to find good pot in canada It doesn't sound like Prairie Plant Systems is to blame for this - the blame seems to me to belong sqarely to Health Canada and the Canadian government. What's especially ironic of course is how easily high quality strains could be obtained in Canada - all it would take is a few calls to BCGA or Mark Emery (though it is a little hard to imagine the government doing business with Mark). This is at best excessive caution the point of a fault (perhaps the justification is that there is more research already available with marijuana of this grade) and at worst a criminal attempt to change the results of the trial. If it's any reassurance, US government grown pot, though of an inferior quality, has still constistently been shown to have beneficial effects when used medicinally. I fully expect these results to be repeated in this newest trial. What's heartbreaking is thinking of hundreds of sick people inhaling four times as many carcinogens as they have to - on a daily basis. I certainly hope that exemptions can be made sooner rather than later so that patients can legally grow their own - and assuage their pain with the least risk of respiratory damage. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by r.earing on February 10, 2001 at 12:49:12 PT: PPS usually produces high quality products The company in question is a leader in their field.Their other products are very high quality.It is surely just a contract specification that is holding them back.Seems like health Canada needs a briefing on cannabis strenght and usage. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Duzt on February 10, 2001 at 08:43:53 PT Think about it The reason they do this is obvious. Here in California they are also doing government studies for AIDS patients. Their biggest concern is that the quality of marijuana provided (grown in Mississippi by the government) is much lower than the quality on the streets. They say they worry because they think the patients will start smoking street marijuana and not their low quality stuff. They are setting this up to fail. They won't have nearly as good of results from smoking low grade. The trichomes on the buds of marijuana carry a large percentage of the cannibinoids, the leaves carry much less. Different strains of marijuana are more potent, anybody who grows seeds from seed banks knows this. It's not difficult to grow high grade, it's EXACTLY the same as growing low grade. They would never do studies this way with any other medicine. They also mention the worry about buying on the street because when they patients do experience positive results (even low grade will help, but not nearly as much as high) they will say that the patients were buying street marijuana, so the tests weren't accurate. A government that has fought so hard against cannabis shouldn't be conducting tests on it's medicinal value, we all know what their results will be. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on February 10, 2001 at 08:07:02 PT: Lowest Common Denominator GW Pharmaceuticals, in its UK government approved program is routinely growing cannabis with THC yields of 15-20 percent. There is no reason that Canada cannot, and should not attempt to do the same. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Robbie on February 10, 2001 at 07:25:28 PT Oh great... They will also have to inhale more of the 2,000 chemicals and toxins contained in cannabis smoke.I hate it when the reporter does not know much and then brings up such a fantastical figure that ends up perpetuating myths. Do your job!!But Roslyn Tremblay, a spokeswoman for Health Canada, says it was important to establish a consistent THC concentration for research purposes. The level was based on previous scientific research.Oh sure...from the 1970's using US (bad idea) potency standards based on a bale of pot that had been sitting in a warehouse for more than six months!It just shows to go ya that in Canada or the US, the people governmentally in charge of "health" seem to be the worst care givers. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: