NO HOME-GROWN FOR ROCK

Health Canada tests need pot from U.K, U.S.

Ambitious pot growers, be warned - federal Health Minister Allan Rock
will never join your customer list.

>From hydroponic pot moguls to kids nursing a couple of plants under
heat lamps in their parents' basements, Canuck growers just cannot
guarantee the consistent marijuana quality Rock's department needs,
Health Canada said.

In June, the department put out a tender for growers to share their
secrets of growing weed good enough to be used in clinical trials on
the medicinal effects of smoking marijuana. But so far, the only
growers with good enough marijuana are in Britain and the U.S., said a
government spokesman.

"There is no one growing research-grade cannabis in Canada," said
Health Canada spokesman Reva Cerman.

"The question isn't whether (Canadians) are capable of growing good
marijuana. The question is whether our producers could produce product
which would satisfy the demands of researchers."

To keep the tests reliable, the government requires a long-term,
guaranteed supply of the drug containing a perfectly consistent
percentage of THC, the active ingredient.

The marijuana must be grown, said Cerman, in laboratory conditions
"where it is guaranteed that it's not contaminated with fungal spores,
insecticides, fertilizers ... That's why we can't use just any pot."

Pot grown outdoors won't cut it, said Jim Storch, who's cultivating
four hectares of low-THC hemp on his farm near Mannville, 159 km east
of Edmonton.

"Nature can mess with your mind so easily," said Storch. "Soil
conditions, temperature, fertilization - there are so many variables
... to get consistent product would be very difficult to do."

Storch, who received government permission to grow commercial hemp
just last year, applied to Health Canada for a research licence to
grow hemp for labs, but was turned down. "I didn't have a PhD in
agriculture, so they just sort of laughed at me," he said.

By the time he gets approved, pot may be legal anyway. A Tory member
has asked the Senate to look at legalizing some soft drugs, and his
motion will be debated this fall.