SASKATOON COMPANY CANADA'S OFFICIAL POT SUPPLIER

SASKATOON -- A Saskatoon company is now the federal government's
exclusive marijuana supplier after it was awarded a five-year,
$5.75-million contract on Thursday.

Prairie Plant Systems Inc. (PPS) will be expected to supply 185
kilograms of standard marijuana cigarettes and bulk processed
marijuana next year, and 420 kilograms per year after that.

The drug will be available to the roughly 140 people who have been
granted federal medical exemptions so far. Since June of 1999, the
federal government has allowed some people to grow and use marijuana
as a treatment for diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Some of the PPS marijuana will also be used in research. PPS will also
manufacture the placebo pot needed for clinical trials.

"We're happy to get it. It's an exciting time for us," PPS president
Brent Zettl said.

"It's a landmark in history -- the first (contract) in the world of
this nature."

The pot will be grown, processed, and packaged several hundred metres
underground in an unused portion of a copper mine near Flin Flon, Man.
It will then be shipped to Ottawa, where Health Canada will decide who
gets how much.

The 80,000-square-foot subterranean operation offers "genetic
containment" as well as security, Zettl said.

"There's only one way in and one way out," he said.

Zettl credited the federal government for licensing the production of
a drug that was completely illegal just a couple of years ago.
Morphine is accepted to have a legitimate medical use, and Zettl hopes
marijuana will gain the same status.

"It's a bold step, but they had to in order to bring this drug into
the 21st century," he said.

PPS beat out nearly 200 other bidders from across Canada, including 33
finalists.

"They were the ones who met all of the requirements," said Roslyn
Tremblay of Health Canada.

Health Canada evaluated the bidders' ability to supply a quality
product in a secure environment. The experience PPS had in growing
medicinal plants for human consumption was also a plus, as was the
amount of its bid, Tremblay said.

A lab at McGill University will handle the quality control testing.

The evaluation committee included members from the RCMP, Health
Canada, the Department of Agriculture, and others.

"Canada is acting compassionately by allowing the use of marijuana by
people who are suffering from grave and debilitating illness," federal
Health Minister Allan Rock said.

Health Canada announced the competition for the contract in May. Many
provincial groups expressed interest, including Saskatoon's Meewasin
Valley Authority, Saskatchewan Health and individual farmers.