Big Pharma budding into medical pot plan with pill for the ill

[Guest guest]

The pot thickens

Big Pharma budding into medical pot plan with pill for the ill

BY Matt Mernagh

NOW | NOV 11 - 17, 2004 | VOL. 24 NO. 11

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2004-11-11/news_story3.php

 

The med grass community is fuming. Not over the Libs' lousy pot

legislation, but over Health Canada's sneaky new regs requiring them to get

their official pot at pharmacies. At first glance, doling out Prairie Plant

Systems' stockpiled " dirtweed " through drug stores seems like a wonderful

idea. But many users are worried that the plan is intended to grease the

way for Big Pharma to monopolize the med-grass supply, thus ending licensed

users' right to grow their own safe, cheap, effective stash, and

threatening compassion clubs with police crackdowns.

 

There certainly is a lot of room for paranoia. The appearance of new

players on the horizon – like the UK's GW Pharmaceuticals, which is hoping

to get the nod from Health Canada for its synthetic cannabis spray, Sativex

– has only fed fears that the Libs are bent on a private-enterprise solution.

 

Then there's Canuck company CannaSat, backed by Moses Znaimer, which is

angling to get permission for clinical trials of Prairie Plant Systems'

" mine swag.'' What is freaking out medgrass folks big time is that the lead

consultant for CannaSat is none other than pot's highest-profile courtroom

champion, lawyer Alan Young.

 

Intrigue all around. Not least of which is Health Canada's stealth in

ramming through the changes mandating drugstore purchase to the Medical

Marijuana Access Regulations (MMAR). Instead of allowing for parliamentary

scrutiny, the department published the new regs in the parliamentary

journal Canada Gazette. This makes these amendments to the Narcotics

Control Act legit after a 30-day public comment period – no debate in the

House required.

 

Health Canada envisions a program in which cardholders " present their

prescription to a pharmacist to obtain dried marihuana. " Fewer than 100

people now receive their " swag in a bag " from Prairie Plant Systems, and

the sub-par product is delivered directly to their homes.

 

By contrast, some 8,000 Canadians use compassion clubs to acquire

medicinal-grade marijuana to treat terminal or chronic illnesses. Much of

this is illegal, though many clubs demand a doctor's prescription to score.

 

One million Canadians claim their marijuana use is medicinal. Many people

seem to be using the drug-warrior slogan " Just say no " when it comes to

pharmaceuticals. " Pot, not pills! " is their mantra.

 

Unlike taking large helpings of opiates, toking the reefer to treat my

chronic debilitating oseteoarthritis allows me to go from disabled to able.

 

Toronto Compassion Club member, MS sufferer and MMAR cardholder Alison

Myrden, a long-time activist, echoes these sentiments. The herb, when it's

the right strain, gets her mobile, chatty and helps her keep her dinner

down. The idea that the feds may be remodelling the system rattles her

completely. " It's making me freak, " she says, confiding that the added

stress is causing her to vomit more than usual. " I'm panicked. I'm so

worried that they're trying to phase out growing our own, and that they'll

go after compassion clubs. "

 

Currently, the feds have given 572 users permission to produce their own

cannabis or designate someone to do it for them. Says Philippe Lucas of

Canadians for Safe Access, " I want to make it clear that these people

didn't join the program to become cannabis farmers. They want the right to

have multiple strains, multiple methods of ingestion, and growing methods

that are safe. Health Canada is not talking about doing something

beneficial for the end user. "

 

HC, for its part, vehemently denies that it'll ask for the return of the

personal production licences. Still, HC spokesperson Cathryn Saunders does

admit that the forthcoming amendments " could change the marijuana base. "

 

It's Young's opinion that the community's fear of losing the right to grow

is a very valid one, though he sees no move afoot to get rid of compassion

clubs.

 

Young, meanwhile, finds himself at the centre of a raging controversy

because of his new corporate connection to CannaSat. The lack of

information regarding CannaSat's intentions – a press conference keeps

being put off – has sparked an incredible amount of speculation that a

select few are going to corner the market. Some have accused Young and a

group of MMAR cardholders who are supposedly investing in CannaSat of

" selling out " or profiting off illnesses.

 

Young answers the criticisms by telling me, " CannaSat welcomes the

decentralized system. We encourage and support what is currently available

in production licences and designated producers, and I personally support

compassion clubs.

 

" But Health Canada, " he adds, " has already announced that its long-term

goal is to get rid of all distribution except through pharmacies and

Prairie Plant Systems. That's its policy. "

 

CannaSat is talking with Health Canada about conducting clinical trials.

" Because so little is known about cannabinoids, we feel it would be futile

to start extracting synthetic compounds and derivatives. We value the

plant.'' The goal of CannaSat is to do research on various strains to

identify which can target certain symptoms.

 

By law, the marijuana for clinical trials has to come from Prairie Plant

Systems, which currently provides only one strain.

 

While Canadians for Safe Access claims Prairie Plant Systems grass is

unsafe, Young says he would not be using it if it were. " I'm convinced that

the product is safe. Whether it's effective – I'll work on that. It turns

out the elevated levels of heavy metals (reported by Canadians for Safe

Access earlier this year in the government-issued grass) are no different

than those found in grocery store products. "

 

The cannabis from Prairie Plant Systems has been improving since Canadians

for Safe Access began its own independent tests without the consent of

Health Canada. That's good news, but Lucas insists the weed is still unsafe

and unusable. While its THC count has risen to 12 per cent, Lucas says the

grind is too fine and the twigs too big.

 

GW Pharmaceutical grows its own marijuana in a controlled environment for

its cannabinoid medicine, Sativex. Though the company can identify the

exact plant that goes into each individual puffer, Sativex is not an herbal

product.

 

" There's no way for a precise amount of cannabis to be baked into, say, two

mouthfuls of cake, " says GW spokesperson Mark Rogerson. " It isn't a

pharmaceutical. Anyone can bake a cake, but there's a huge problem with

dosage. "

 

The company has sidestepped the whole medical marijuana debate by seeking

to have Sativex approved like any other pharma product.

 

Its clinical trials have been submitted to Health Canada, and the company

hopes to be issued a Drug Identification Number and a Notice of Compliance

within the next year and a half. This would allow doctors to prescribe

Sativex without going through the lengthy MMAR process and allow

pharmacists to fill the script without requiring any of the proposed

changes to the Narcotics Control Act.

 

In the future world of DIN numbers and dried marijuana distributed by

pharmacies, will both agencies renew their efforts to shut us grassroots

pioneers down?

 

Says Young, " Marijuana's a very complex plant. A great deal of research

needs to be done. There is a role for the underground to play. Its members

have a lot of experience. " the end