POT PRODUCTION COULD LEAVE TOWN

Health Canada will soon be seeking bids for the supply of medicinal
marijuana, a move that could potentially take government-sanctioned
pot production out of Flin Flon.

Last week the federal agency posted an online notice saying that a
request for proposals will go out this spring, though no specific
date was mentioned.

Prairie Plant Systems has since 2001 supplied Ottawa with medical pot
grown in a vacant portion of the Trout Lake mine just outside city limits.

Company president Brent Zettl told the Canadian Press that he expects
to bid on the upcoming contract, but no final decision has been made.

Since the initial five-year government contract expired in 2006,
Zettl's company has secured six-month extensions while Health Canada
prepared to again invite tenders.

Prairie Plants beat out nearly 200 competitors for the first deal,
something Zettl credits to the security of the company's subterranean
growth chamber.

The primary benefit of the site, he said in a previous interview, is
that it eliminates the risk of modified plants spreading into the
agricultural system.

One challenge Zettl could face in hanging onto the contract is public
perception. News stories over the years have quoted a small number of
patients who claimed the Prairie pot was too weak or otherwise insufficient.

Zettl chalks up the bad press to competition within the marijuana marketplace.

"You have to know that the West Coast guys are really feeling
threatened," he said during a speech in Creighton last year. "Here
comes Government of Canada stuff at half price. And it's all tested.
What would you do? It's about protecting their turf. It's a marketing
thing, so they can make some wild claims and in the meantime, Health
Canada does not respond because they don't think it's worth
responding to. And then what happens? The media report goes out and
then everybody sees only a lie or the posture or the allegation. They
don't see the outcome or the other side."

As of September 2007, about 500 Canadians were using the Flin
Flon-grown product, which is sealed in foil pouches and sold for $5 a gram.