MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULE CHANGES GOOD FOR PATIENTS: PPS

It's business as usual at Saskatoon-based Prairie Plant Systems Inc.
(PPS) despite a federal announcement the government will be changing
the rules for medical marijuana growers.

Brent Zettl, president and CEO of PPS, said its contract to produce
medical marijuana for Health Canada remains in place through the
agreement's March 2013 end date. PPS is the only federally licensed
producer of the substance in the country.

"We see this as (having) strong potential for the patients to win by
giving more consistent long-term accessibility to marijuana-based
products that are as safe as they can be," Zettl said Saturday.

"I don't think that from our standpoint that it's a bad thing. I think
this is an appropriate step to take at this juncture in the evolution
of making medical marijuana available to patients on an ongoing basis."

He added there's no reason for patients to be concerned about the
availability - or lack thereof - of the drug.

On Friday, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced the
government wants to reduce the risk of abuse and exploitation of the
drug by making improvements to the Medical Marihuana Access Program.

Ottawa has now launched public consultations on the proposed changes,
which would eliminate individual and private growers.

Health Canada's action on the access program comes from recent
complaints from communities across the country who say the system as
is poses dangers when growers don't follow local electrical, health
and safety bylaws.

Zettl said he hopes any changes to the access program will allow PPS
to interact with patients - something it currently cannot do.

PPS supplies roughly 20 per cent of the medical marijuana patients
have access to through Health Canada. Some 5,000 Canadians are
authorized to use marijuana for medical reasons, Zettl said.

"We're always of an opinion that we would like to be a bit more
sensitive to the patient needs, including making more strains
available to them," he said. "So from a goforward basis, it could
benefit the patients long-term."

The CEO explained leaving individual growers out of licensed medical
marijuana production will improve safety - both for the drug and the
communities where it's grown. Zettl said it's been 11 years since the
last issue of product diversion at PPS.

Most importantly, he said, the patient should be presented with
medical marijuana that has been thoroughly tested.

"Everything we do is tested for metals and microbials and
cannabinoids, so the patients know what they're getting. It's not like
a mystery bag of material," he said.

"Really, if you want to make it medicine and call it medicine it
should be grown and produced and treated and tested and verified and
validated like medicine, and that's the truth."

He said he's happy Health Canada's announcement has reignited a
dialogue on the subject.

Canadians who are interested in commenting on the proposed changes to
the Medical Marihuana Access Program can do so through July 31 on the
Health Canada website at www.hc-sc.gc.ca.