FEDS HIGH ON CITY FIRM

Saskatoon Grower Picked To Supply Canada's Medical Marijuana

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 the 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 the Meewasin Valley
Authority, Saskatchewan Health and individual farmers.