Federal government may have to grow its own marijuana for clinical tests on whether drug helps patients.

Ottawa—The federal government is having trouble getting a supply of marijuana for forthcoming clinical trials on medicinal uses for the drug, so it may have to resort to growing its own.
(Marijuananews note: There is something mildly comical about this. Canada grows some of the best marijuana in the world, and because most of it is grown indoors it is easy to control the quality. Consequently, the notion of the government having trouble getting it is merely a measure of the silliness of prohibitionism.)

"I think we are up to it as a nation, aren’t we?" Health Minister Allan Rock said yesterday after a meeting of the Commons health committee where the issue was discussed. He said he is still considering his options, but government documents obtained by The Globe and Mail make it clear that the difficulty in finding a safe and secure supply of the drug for clinical trials could lead to a home-grown solution.

In March, Mr. Rock announced his department is developing guidelines for trials that could to lead to legalizing marijuana use for people suffering from diseases such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis. They now break the law when they use a treatment they say provides relief from nausea and other symptoms. Mr. Rock said his department is developing guidelines for the trials, which he will make public next month.
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Government documents, obtained under the Access to Information Act by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin, show that obtaining a secure supply of marijuana is one of the biggest hurdles to allowing the drug to be used as medicine in Canada.

Mr. Rock summed up the dilemma in a letter that he sent last year to the Assembly of the Church of the Universe Institute for the Advancement of Marijuana Medicine.

"For marijuana, there exists a practical problem of finding a secure supply of a medicinal-quality product," he wrote. "Generally, acceptable sources of drugs not approved in Canada may be found in countries where they have received approval. Health Canada has not been able to locate an acceptable international source of marijuana, and is examining the issue further."

A briefing note, dated April 22, puts it even more bluntly.

"To our knowledge, after extensive research, there is no licit medicinal-quality marijuana supplier in the world. To make marijuana available for medicinal purposes in Canada it would need to be grown and manufactured in Canada. "

Mr. Rock has made it clear that his intent is to help sick and dying Canadians, not to legalize recreational use of the drug. He has dodged questions about whether he has smoked marijuana on the grounds that he doesn’t want to incriminate himself, but as a young man he drove Beatle John Lennon around Ottawa.

"As former attorney-general of Canada, I am keenly aware of the right against self-incrimination in this country. I fully intend to invoke that right." Mr. Rock replied with a broad smile.

"I have never smoked marijuana for medicinal purposes," he insisted yesterday.

Marijuana for medicinal purposes must be pure. Mr. Rock said yesterday the advantages of a Canadian supply are its guaranteed cleanliness, and that it could be grown with a uniform level of the main psychoactive compound in the drug, tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC. This would allow researchers to reduce the number of variables in their experiments.

Health Canada says it can’t ask the RCMP to turn over contraband, because it might be contaminated with fungus or other substances.

Government officials are still checking out potential sources in the United Kingdom and in the United States for clinical trials, but now believe the long-term solution is likely to be growing it in Canada.

They are looking to the United States, where the University of Mississippi grows marijuana in a project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
(Marijuananews note: That would be like the French going to Mississippi to buy wine!)
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Canadian officials say another reason for growing Canadian marijuana is that it would mean the government would not have to follow the protocols set by other countries but could develop its own rules.

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The government is also looking to Britain, where there is at least one government-sanctioned grower, an individual named Geoffrey Guy.
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(Marijuananews note: This is excellent. I think that the response from the users will create a sense of urgency for the government.)