POT CONTRACT UP FOR BIDS

Medicinal Users Want Variety

WINNIPEG -- People who want to grow pot for the federal government
may soon get the chance.

Health Canada's five-year, $5.75-million contract with its current
supplier of medicinal marijuana, Prairie Plant Systems, appears to be
winding down and the department is preparing to seek proposals from
all potential suppliers.

As it does for a wide range of contracts -- from building maintenance
to military supplies -- the government will invite interested
companies and individuals to submit bids for a pot-growing contract.
It will then try to choose the one offering top quality and value for
taxpayers.

The process could result in Prairie Plant Systems being selected
again, or some other supplier could get the nod.

Some who use the current pot supply are urging the government to shop around.

"What we need to move beyond is the idea of a single monopoly
producer of medical cannabis," Philippe Lucas, spokesman for the
group Canadians for Safe Access.

"The end users of this product -- Canada's critically and chronically
ill -- would benefit from having options."

People on medicinal marijuana respond better to different strains of
the drug, Lucas said.

About 280 patients currently receive the government pot, which
Prairie Plant Systems grows in an unused section of a hard-rock mine
near Flin Flon, Man. Most patients buy 30-gram bags of ground plant
buds for $150.