HOMEGROWN MEDICINAL POT MAY BE OUTLAWED

The federal government is expected to announce new rules for growing
medical marijuana that would make it so only licensed growers would be
permitted to cultivate and distribute it.

The move would eliminate individual and private growers from the
current system, whereby eligible people apply to Health Canada, which
then issues the licence.

People in the dispensing community who have been hearing about the
impending change say it's unwelcome, and will do more harm than good.

"By privatizing the industry, they'll effectively be removing the
rights of medical cannabis patients to produce their own cannabis,"
said Adam Greenblatt, a spokesman for the Canadian Association of
Medical Cannabis Dispensaries. "That's problematic because you have
patients who spend many years trying to find the variety that works
for them, and also because some patients have invested a lot of money
in growing supplies."

A spokesman for the health minister said they will begin consulting on
new rules in the "near future."

Steve Outhouse wouldn't give specifics about any changes, but said the
rules "will balance patient access to medical marijuana while
strengthening public safety."