JOB OPPORTUNITY CREATING BUZZ

Feds Seek Marijuana Growers; Flin Flon Company Could Lose Contract

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

The department served notice Monday 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 a steady stream of
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 the spring of
2008, without specifying a date.

Ottawa has been a reluctant supplier of pot since a series of court
rulings forced it into the medical marijuana business.

The 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.

Health Canada first awarded Prairie Plant Systems the deal in late
2000 and has been extending it in six-month increments since 2006,
says company president Brent Zettl.

He added the company has yet to decide whether it will bid on the new
contract, although he expects it will.

"We didn't expect that this process would be able to continue....
These are the rules that they have to abide by," Zettl said. "We had
anticipated internally that something would have to happen. We
expected it would be something along these lines."

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

Health Canada has said it plans to eventually end its licensing of
home-grown weed. That would force all medical users to buy their
supplies directly from Ottawa, perhaps through pharmacy distribution.

Ron Marzel, a Toronto lawyer who recently brought the matter before
the Federal Court on behalf of a group of medical users, says he's
concerned about any monopoly on legal production and supply of the drug.

"The government's just had such a horrible track record in terms of
supplying medication to patients," he said.

"There are many different strains of cannabis out there and the
government's position to date has been, 'Well, we're growing one
strain and we've got one supplier and that's it. Live with it.' The
pharmacological evidence is that different ailments require, and
different symptomology require, treatment with different strains. And
the government hasn't paid heed to that at all."

The Federal Court decision in January struck down a key restriction
in the government's pot program.

A judge's ruling eased Ottawa's grip on medical marijuana by allowing
growers to supply the drug to more than one user. Prior to the
ruling, each licensed grower could supply only one licensed user.