FLIN FLON-GROWN POT NOT BURNED AS REPORTED

OTTAWA -- The first batch of medicinal marijuana grown in a Flin Flon mine
was not destroyed by burning as reported, Health Canada said yesterday.

Farah Mohamed, a spokeswoman for Health Minister Anne McLellan, said her
minister was misquoted in La Presse and the newspaper will run a correction.

"She never said burned," Mohamed said. La Presse quoted McLellan saying the
entire crop was burned because it was uneven.

Mohamed said the first crop is being used to develop research grade
marijuana and determine its chemical profile.

A small amount of the pot was destroyed because it contained spores and
fungus but Mohamed said the first batch produced was helpful to the federal
program.

Prairie Plant Systems has a five-year, $5-million contact to grow the
marijuana for Health Canada in an abandoned mine in Flin Flon. Mohamed said
a second crop grown in Flin Flon is being tested and hopefully will lead to
clinical trials.