Health Canada's price for medical pot absurd

Re: Gov't-supplied weed puts man into debt (SP, Oct. 8). Ron Lawrence,
burned badly in a fire 21 years ago, claims that he was unaware of the
price of his medication.

He received invoices, and he should have ensured that his medication
was covered by the Ontario government before accepting it. However,
this is the smaller irritant in my mind, as far as this situation is
concerned.

I find it exceptionally troubling that the product is so costly in the
first place. The cost to produce marijuana of fair quality is a
fraction of its current street value, and Prairie Plant Systems, based
in Saskatoon and growing the federal marijuana in Flin Flon, Man.,
does not produce a high-quality product.

Health Canada states on its website that this inferior weed is to be
sold at a set price of $5 per gram, or around $150 an ounce. This is
ridiculous, as the production cost for marijuana can run as low as one
to four cents per gram, depending on the growing method.

Give me the $5.7 million contract, and I'll give Lawrence his medicine
for $20 an ounce and still come away with an outrageous profit. The
government is using the inflated price of marijuana created by
prohibition to its own benefit, and I find that utterly disgusting.

Ethan Erkiletian

Saskatoon