TAINTED BUD

Is Ottawa's Medical Mary Jane Laced With Heavy Metals?

A high court gavel may have ordered the feds to keep doling out weed to the
nation's sick this week, but it looks like the government's perpetually
problematic stash is in trouble again. Medicinal marijuana advocates say
that Ottawa's herb is laced with high levels of toxic chemicals and heavy
metals. It's yet another chapter in the tragicomedy of Canada's medical pot
saga, marked by years of judicial tug of war, flip-flopping government
support and notorious delays in the production of certifiably weak greens.
Most recently, Canadians for Safe Access (CSA) decided to act on their
mounting suspicion that growing medicinal herbs in an abandoned zinc and
copper mine shaft could lead to contamination. The organization sent a
sample of federal bud (as well organic herb for comparison) out to three
labs for independent testing. When results uncovered much higher levels of
toxic compounds like lead and arsenic in the government stash, the advocacy
group started sounding alarms.

"Inhaling heavy metals or arsenic in your lungs - I don't have to tell you
that can have some serious health consequences," says Philippe Lucas, CSA's
director. "When we're talking about people who are already critically or
chronically ill and in many cases have immune deficiencies, this becomes a
much more dangerous situation."

But both the manufacturer (Prairie Plant Systems) and Health Canada were
quick to discount the data. PPS co-founder Brent Zettl says that every
batch of grass is measured for over two dozen heavy metals, and there has
never been any indication of elevated levels.

"These allegations are not based on science or fact," says Zettl, pointing
out that CSA refuses to identify its labs by name. Lucas says he's only
protecting his sources because, though they are accredited labs, they
aren't licensed to handle the illicit drug. But Zettl isn't convinced.
"They might as well pull those results from the air," adds the former
blueberry farmer turned national drug lord.

Then again, Health Canada, which safeguards all info on the pot project,
won't share its findings with the public either. Its spokesperson, Jirina
Vlk, will only say that its test results were much lower than CSA's. "(The
results) are similar to what one finds in Canadian tobacco and are well
within allowable limits," says Vlk.

But when asked what those limits are, Vlk admits there are no standards in
place limiting the presence of heavy metals in either tobacco or marijuana.
She does suggest that levels are well in line with heavy metal limits on
echinacea and other herbs, which are allowed up to 5 parts per million of
arsenic. (CSA's test revealed levels of 2 parts per million in the federal
bud.)

Brennain Lloyd of North Watch, a public interest group that monitors
northern mining, energy and forestry activity, argues that there is no safe
level of arsenic exposure. "Both (lead and arsenic) will lead to long-term
loading in the body, so it doesn't make sense to have those contaminants in
medicinal marijuana."

And while Health Canada reassures NOW that these compounds can be found in
"every agricultural product grown in the world," critics are quick to point
out that not every crop is grown in Flin Flon, Manitoba.

The town has been a hotbed of mining and smelting activity since the early
1900s. And according to a Mining Watch report, over 4 tonnes of heavy
metals, including lead and arsenic, are still dumped into Flin Flon's water
annually, and hundreds of thousands of tonnes are released into the air.
All thanks to the same company (Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting) that
offered up an old mine shaft for PPS's underground pot op and still
operates just 12 kilometres away.

Brettl insists that despite earlier media reports PPS does not use local
soil, and that both air and water are well filtered before they are piped
366 metres below ground. "The water is clean, the soil is clean, the air is
clean," says Zettl.

Regardless, Lucas says this week's move by Ontario appellate court to
loosen legislation around who can grow herbs for ailing users and how much
they can grow will spell the end of PPS's virtual monopoly over medicinal
plant production in Canada.

"The (court has) just allowed a whole bunch of people to enter the market
who know what they're doing and can do it better cheaper and faster," says
Lucas. "That may be the death knell for that cultivation program in Flin
Flon, Manitoba."