CALL FOR POT-GROWERS HEARD AROUND B.C.

The deadline for bids on a federal contract to grow medicinal marijuana is
June 6.

B.C. Lions president Glen Ringdal, the village of Masset and the B.C.
forests ministry were among the long list of parties who expressed interest
in Health Canada's tender call for supplying medicinal marijuana.

Although the forests ministry has already decided it won't put in a bid,
and Ringdal is dubious, nearly 200 individuals and corporations from across
Canada sought information on becoming Canada's official marijuana source.

Health Canada announced in early May that it was planning to award a
five-year, multi-million-dollar contract for a Canadian supplier of the
drug. Bids are to be in by June 6.

The contract called for the production of 100,000 cigarettes and 85
kilograms of marijuana in the first year. The weed has to be cultivated,
dried, prepared and delivered to the government. The value of the contract
has been estimated at about $5 million.

The marijuana will be used for clinical research trials to gather
scientific evidence on whether it's safe and effective for patients to
smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Ringdal, who is using his number at B.C. Lions as a contact number for the
application, said he asked for the information because he wanted to find
out what was involved in the project.

He stressed that his interest is personal and does not involve the football
club in any way.

Ringdal said he has a partner who is licensed to grow industrial hemp, so
he already has an interest in the hemp business.

"It's a related business and I wanted to find out what was involved in this
application," he said.

As for the smoking kind of marijuana, he said that judging from the few
puffs he took back in 1968, he doesn't even like the smell of it.

He said the application process is very complicated, and the project may
prove not to be viable. "I don't know if we will ever get to the point
where we can make an application."

The 65-page information package says bidders must be able to show they have
the financial capability, the ability to provide a secure environment for
the project and the proper resources. The government is interested in
growing the marijuana only in a greenhouse.

Masset sees the tender call as an opportunity to diversify the economy of
the small, isolated community, said Clinton Mutch, the town's economic
development coordinator .

Even if the contract means only 20 new jobs, it would be significant for
the town's 1,400

residents, he said. Mutch said the town has been under a lot

of economic pressure with the Canadian military's withdrawal of a base in
the region, along with the slowdown of the local fishing and logging
industries.

The timing for the application was convenient for the town because it was
already planning to build a greenhouse to grow fresh vegetables for the
island, Mutch said.

"Even if in five years we lose the contract to another bidder, we are still
left with the greenhouse, which would be fully paid for."

He said the town is still working on the application and trying to secure
partners for the project, adding he's not sure if it will be able to meet
the June 6 deadline.

Even though the B.C. forests ministry felt the project was important enough
to look at, it has since decided it does not make business sense, said Eric
Kristianson, the ministry's manager of media relations.

He said the project requires eight hectares (20 acres) of greenhouse space,
which the ministry does not have.

The ministry had Surrey Nurseries look into the viability of the project,
but nursery manager Anthony Willington said there were "too many pitfalls
and speed bumps in the project."

He added, "I was a little surprised we looked at it as closely as we did."

After about a week of analysis, the project was killed at a policy level on
Monday.

Other potential dope growers from across Canada include McGill and Guelph
universities, SNC-Lavalin and GW Pharmaceuticals.