OVER-THE-COUNTER POT

Marijuana to Be Sold in B.C. Drugstores

OTTAWA -- Medical marijuana users in B.C. will be able to buy their
pot at the drugstore later this year under a Health Canada pilot project.

Participating pharmacies will stock pot for sale to approved patients
without a doctor's prescription.

"We're just at the preliminary stages right now," said Robin O'Brien,
a consulting pharmacist who is organizing the pilot project for Health
Canada.

Canada will become the second country in the world after the
Netherlands to allow the direct sale of medical marijuana in
pharmacies. It will also be the first time community drugstores in
Canada will be able to sell a controlled substance that is not an
approved drug.

B.C.'s college of pharmacists issued a ground-breaking statement last
fall supporting the distribution of medical marijuana in pharmacies.

"Certainly the climate in British Columbia appears to be more
welcoming and supportive," O'Brien said.

Although the number of current approved users is small, O'Brien notes
that internal surveys for Health Canada have suggested up to seven per
cent of the B.C. population -- or about 290,000 people -- use
marijuana for medical purposes, albeit illegally.

B.C. Marijuana Party president Marc Emery said he was encouraged by
pharmacists' progressive attitudes toward medical marijuana, but he
was concerned the Health Canada project would eliminate options for
users.

"It's definitely a forward motion, but the difficulty is Health Canada
is going withdraw [compassionate users'] right to grow their own pot
or have someone grow it for them," he said.

Given the lower quality, Health Canada's pot is also overpriced at
$140 an ounce versus $200 for black-market marijuana, Emery said.

"It is of incredibly poor quality," said Philippe Lucas of Victoria,
who is authorized to receive government marijuana. For this reason,
some approved users say wider distribution may not attract more users.