FEDS' HIGH PRIORITY: FINDING NEW POT SUPPLIER

OTTAWA -- Health Canada is looking for someone to grow its weed.

The department served notice yesterday it will soon invite firms to
bid on a contract to cultivate and distribute medical marijuana,
which is now being done in Flin Flon, Man., by Prairie Plant Systems
Inc. The winning firm will be expected to deliver government-approved
dope to certified medical users starting in the fall.

Health Canada posted a notice on a government tenders website saying
it would put out a formal request for proposals in this spring.

Ottawa has been a reluctant supplier of pot since a series of court
rulings forced it into the medical marijuana business. The marijuana
program licenses certified medical users to grow their own pot, to
have someone grow it for them or to buy it straight from Health Canada.

The department has paid Prairie Plant Systems more than $10 million
to cultivate government certified dope in a mine shaft in Flin Flon.
The company couriers the weed directly to users in 30-gram packets.

Prairie Plant Systems president Brent Zettl said he expects the
company, which has grown pot for the government since 2000, will
likely bid on the new contract.

The winning firm could wind up in the position of one day being the
sole supplier of medical marijuana.

Health Canada has said it will eventually end its licensing of
homegrown weed, which would force all medical users to buy from
Ottawa, perhaps through a pharmacy.