DEALS THEY CAN'T REFUSE

The cronies in government must have taken this tip from the criminal
element.

Records recently obtained under the Access to Information Act and
reported by The Canadian Press show the federal government charges
patients 15 times more for certified medical marijuana than it pays to
buy the weed from its official supplier.

That's quite the markup, a little bit like a licence to print
money.

The records obtained reveal that Health Canada pays $328.75 for each
kilogram of bulk medical marijuana produced by Prairie Plant Systems
Inc. It then turns it over to the small number of licensed users for
$150 - plus GST - for each 30-gram bag of ground-up flowering tops,
with a strength of up to 14 per cent THC, the main active ingredient.
That works out to $5,000 for each kilogram, or a markup of more than
1,500 per cent.

It's hard to say how those in charge would justify such a profit
margin. Perhaps they feel they have a captive market.

The decision to allow people with certain illnesses and chronic pain
sufferers to use marijuana came with some controversy. But with the
legislation comes official acknowledgement that it has value as a medicine.

This revelation comes at a time when more and more people - including
representatives of law enforcement - are calling for an end to the
so-called war on drugs because it has only helped the criminal element.

To see a government department capitalizing on the misfortunes of some
is indeed disturbing. Those licensed to use the drug are often
disabled in some way and live on small incomes.

Many other kinds of drugs are supplied to those in need under public
health plans. It's hard to understand why there is an exception to
this particular one, one that is relatively cheap to produce.

Maybe they're just doing it because they can, but those using it
deserve a change in policy.