FED POT TO BE SOLD AT B.C. DRUGSTORES

OTTAWA -- Health Canada plans to make government-certified marijuana
available in pharmacies, a move that could rapidly boost the number of
registered medical users. Officials are organizing a pilot project in
British Columbia, modelled on a year-old program in the Netherlands,
that would allow medical users to buy marijuana at their local drugstore.

Currently, there are 78 medical users in Canada permitted to buy
Health Canada marijuana, which is grown in Flin Flon, Man.

The 30-gram bags of dried buds, sold for $150 each, now are sent by
courier directly to patients or to their doctors.

But the department is changing the regulations to allow participating
pharmacies to stock marijuana for sale to approved patients without a
doctor's prescription, similar to regulations governing so-called
morning-after pills.

"We're just at the preliminary stages right now," said Robin O'Brien,
a consulting pharmacist who is organizing the pilot project for Health
Canada.

Easier availability of certified marijuana might encourage more
medical users to register with the government, rapidly boosting the
number taking advantage of legal dope, says O'Brien.