The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The quality of Flin Flon's medicinal marijuana has again come under fire with word that nearly a third of registered patients have either returned the pot to Health Canada or canceled their orders. Phillipe Lucas, a medical pot activist and president of a group called Canadians for Safe Access, wasn't surprised, saying the product is too weak and does not burn well. "High school students in a cupboard could grow a product that is better and safer than what we're getting," Lucas, a medical marijuana user, told the Canadian Press (CP). Lucas said tests commissioned by his group found that the Flin Flon pot has only half the THC content that the government claims. THC is the active drug component in marijuana. But Health Canada spokesperson Catherine Saunders denied that claim, saying the THC content is indeed 10 per cent plus or minus 1.5 per cent. In confirming to CP that 29 of the 92 registered medicinal marijuana users have either returned their pot or canceled their orders, Saunders said she did not know the reasons. The news follows past comments from several patients who have called the pot weak, nauseating, and generally unsuitable for use. Saskatoon-based Prairie Plant Systems is in the fourth year of a $5.5-million, five-year government contract to grow medicinal marijuana in an abandoned mine shaft at Trout Lake. Looking at the figures, Lucas estimates that the government spends $16,000 for every ounce of medicinal marijuana, though Health Canada could not confirm that figure.
