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Medicinal pot supplier plants roots in Sea to Sky

Corridor grow op opens for "limited number" of medical marijuana patients
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leaves of grass One of the plants currently being grown by a Sea to Sky medical marijuana grower.

The numbers of medical marijuana growers and users are fast on the rise and one local grower is banking on this booming business for his B.C. bud.

Statistics just released to Pique by Health Canada suggest that more medicinal marijuana growers are getting ready for legislative changes to the industry in the next two years.

One Sea to Sky grower has convinced others of the potential of pot.

Together with his investors, he has set up a small grow op facility in the Sea to Sky corridor, producing a couple of pounds of legal medical marijuana per cycle — about every two months — for a "limited number of patients" as allowed by Health Canada.

But there's no money in that. And so, they are biding their time, banking on the signals from the federal government that big changes to the medical marijuana industry are in the pipeline — ones that will see them capitalize on this early groundwork as Canada moves towards a system of bigger, more regulated, commercial growers of the medicinal plant.

"I figured that if I'm going to be competitive when that comes around then we need to start developing facilities now that are going to meet what I anticipate are going to be the requirements for commercial grow facilities, and also start developing a variety of strains because when the market opens up to all these medical patients... it's going to be a competitive market," said the local grower.

"You're going to be competing with other guys who are really good at growing pot and have a variety of strains to offer and patients are going to be selective about where those come from. So I figure if I don't have my ducks in a row now then when that change comes about, it'll be too late."

Pique has agreed to conceal the grower's identity and the location of his facility for security reasons.

"(The location) is appropriately chosen to take into consideration things about safety and security and the wellbeing of the community," he said. "That sounds like bullshit but it's true. I don't want it to burn down. I don't want anybody to be bothered by it. I want to ensure I'm running a safe and secure facility."

It is, he said, up to code, meeting fire, building and electrical requirements.

The facility is "modular" — built to a certain size right now with more space to expand in the future. The medical marijuana licenses are tucked into a folder on the wall, ready proof that this is a legitimate business.

But as legitimate as it is, the business of medical marijuana is still an underground one.

"Right now everyone operates under the radar," he said. "The whole entire community of medical growers operates on the hush-hush."

And yet there are thousands across the country. Health Canada provided the most up to date statistics, valid as of Oct. 12, 2012.

Nationally, 26,222 are authorized to possess medical marijuana, while 16,549 have a licence to grow and a further 3,199 are designated to grow for others, for a combined total of 19,748 growers.

That's a marked increase in just three years. On June 8, 2010, for example, there were just 4,884 authorized to possess, 3,576 in total allowed to grow. That represents an increase of more than 500 per cent in growers.

More than 2,200 Canadians commented on the first phase of consultation on the legislative changes last summer, not including separate meetings with other organizations such as police and health ministries.

The proposed regulations will move the industry away from the thousands of smaller, individual grow operations to bigger commercial grows, like the one hoping to flourish in the Sea to Sky.

"These improvements are intended to reduce the risk of abuse and keep... communities safe while significantly improving the way program participants access marijuana for medical purposes," said Health Canada's spokesperson Stephane Shank, who could not comment specifically on the spike in medicinal growers and users.

"So this, in other words, after hearing from law enforcement as well particularly where there were concerns around illegal activity or exploiting of the program through criminal measures... this is in turn what the department has proposed in making improvements to the program to avoid all of these issues going forward."

The draft regulations are set to be released next month in the Canada Gazette.

Meanwhile, Health Canada continues to be guided by the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations, which "allow access to marijuana to people who are suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses."

It's not to be confused with the other movement afoot in B.C. to decriminalize marijuana.

Just last month the Union of British Columbian Municipalities passed a resolution in support of decriminalization. Sea to Sky politicians were also in support.

This type of marijuana use, however, is different. It's specifically for the 26,000 people with permits to possess it in Canada.

B.C. has the highest number of permits to possess and grow — 11,486 authorized to possess (almost 43 per cent of Canada) and a combined personal and designated 9,874 to grow — 50 per cent of Canada.

It's for people suffering with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis. Most of this local grower's patients are from Vancouver.

And then there's a small group of secondary patients suffering from arthritis. He provides relief through his non-physchoactive salves and lotions, made from a particular strain of the marijuana plant, one with more CBD or cannabidiol.

"It's got astounding anti-inflammatory properties," he said.

One of his local patients, who Pique has also agreed not to name, can attest to that. She's been living with the pain of osteoarthritis in her hands for more than a decade. Nothing, until now, has worked; shots, creams, anything the doctors order.

Three months ago she started using this salve, grown and produced locally, with marijuana heavy in cannabidiol.

"This does relieve it amazingly," she said. "I put it on before I go to bed and I don't wake up in the night with pain in my hands."

It's one of the reasons why this particular 35-year-old local grower has stayed in the business of marijuana despite his Masters in Philosophy.

"I started thinking that there was not just a large market for this but that I was good at it and there was an opportunity for me to get involved in what should be a large emerging industry," he said. "It's not a very compassionate story, is it?"

But there is an element of compassion to the story. He sees the pain and suffering first hand. He hears the stories of the damage caused by stronger opiates like OxyContin. He has seen his medical marijuana improve the quality of his customers' lives.

"If I don't get that medicine out the door to these people on time, they lose their minds," he said.

"I saw an opportunity for me to be a lot better than a lot of dirtbags that are in this industry — the gangsters, the criminals, the people who shouldn't be in this industry."

It's that black market, including public health and safety risks, which has in part spurred on the federal government to take a look at reforming the system.

"The core of the redesigned Program would be a new, simplified process in which Health Canada no longer receives applications from program participants," states Health Canada's website. "A new supply and distribution system for dried marihuana (sic) that relies on licensed commercial producers would be established. These licensed commercial producers, who would be inspected and audited by Health Canada so as to ensure that they comply with all applicable regulatory requirements, would be able to cultivate any strain(s) of marihuana (sic) they choose. Finally, the production of marihuana (sic) for medical purposes by individuals in homes and communities would be phased out."

Commercial producers would have to comply with requirements for things like product quality, personnel, recordkeeping, safety and security, disposal and reporting, as set out in the new regulations.

"Why don't we work toward a model that gets rid of the criminal element, takes out the issues of safety and security around the actual medicine itself? I'm not looking to be a marijuana crusader," he said.

At the same time, he is one of the converted. "It is a great alternative drug and a natural treatment for all kinds of people," he said. "People should have the right to make a safe and informed decision about the type of medicine they want to use."