Ottawa has trouble collecting marijuana debt

OTTAWA -- Like any dope dealer, Health Canada has its share of
marijuana customers who just don't pay their bills.

But unlike street pushers, the department avoids tire irons and
switchblades to recover its bad debts in favour of stern letters and
collection agencies.

As of last month, 127 people authorized to buy government-certified
marijuana for various medical problems were officially in arrears,
with bills unpaid for more than 90 days. That's almost half the 278
patients who currently receive Health Canada marijuana or seeds, most
of them buying 30-gram bags of ground buds for $150. A package of 30
seeds goes for $20.

Altogether, patients in arrears now owe $168,879 to Health Canada for
medical marijuana, produced on contract by Prairie Plant Systems Inc.
for the federal government.

The arrears amount has swollen by more than $100,000 over the past
year alone, as department officials realized that their medical
marijuana policy never indicated to patients the consequences of not
paying their drug bills.

Spokesman Chris Williams said these patients now receive reminder
letters and telephone calls from civil servants in the department's
corporate services branch, and are given an opportunity to set up a
repayment schedule.

"If all that is rejected, the supply would be halted," he said in an
interview. So far, 19 users have been cut off from further shipments
because of non-payment.

After 180 days, a final letter is sent and if no money arrives within
10 days, the matter is turned over to a collection agency, as would
any other individual's stale account with Ottawa.

One medical marijuana user and activist slammed the Health Department
for requiring often-impoverished patients to buy the product, saying
taxpayers have already footed the bill once.

"The Canadian people have already paid for it -- I think it's
absolutely horrible that we're charging them twice," said Alison
Myrden of Burlington, Ont., who has had multiple sclerosis for more
than a decade. "We have no money as it is. Most of us are on full
disability for life . . . It's a choice between marijuana or food for
most of us."

The first shipments of government marijuana in the fall of 2003 were
of such poor quality that many medical users gagged, coughed and
promptly returned the product. The batch was weak, dry, ground up too
finely and included the less potent leaves and stems.

In May, 2004, a new batch was released, eliminating the stem and
leaves. Made of flowering tops only, it had a higher moisture content
and stronger levels of THC, the main active ingredient, although the
buds were still ground up to ensure consistency.

Some users complained, while others expressed satisfaction with the
improved quality. However, Ms. Myrden said the new batch still fell
short of what's available on the street. She does not buy government
marijuana.

Prairie Plant Systems, which grows the plants in a Flin Flon, Man.,
mineshaft, recently got a six-month extension of its $5.75-million
contract with Health Canada, to June 30. The extension is worth $670,000.

The federal government plans to put the next contract out to tender
this year, but it's unclear how the entire medical marijuana program
will fare under the new Conservative government to be sworn in today.

Former Tory health critic Stephen Fletcher, who has raised tough
questions about the program in the Commons, declined to comment when
asked about the new government's policy.

"I can't speak for the party any more on these issues until the leader
picks the new health minister," he said in an interview.

Health Canada is also trying to set up a pilot project that would
allow registered users to buy government marijuana at pharmacies
without a prescription.