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CANNABIS CAPSULES CAUSE STIR Mar 2002
Halifax HeraldMary Ellen MacIntyre
Supplement Approved But Health Canada Investigating
Middle Sackville - Med Marijuana Inc.'s owners might have been spared a lot of grief if they'd sold their edible oil supplements under another name.
Although the cannabis sativa oil gel caps are a legal health supplement, Michael Patriquen and Melanie Stephen of Middle Sackville chose to keep the word marijuana in the company name.
Health Canada is looking into whether the supplement is a banned substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
"We fall into full compliance with the industrial hemp legislation of 1998" said Mr. Patriquen.
The law defines "industrial hemp" as the plants and plant parts of cannabis that don't contain more than 0.3 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a psychoactive substance.
Mr. Patriquen said the company has all the Health Canada documents needed to make the supplement.
He said some distributors are concerned about the investigation and others have stopped selling the product.
He believes Ottawa is fully aware the product is legal.
"Before we did anything we had it thoroughly checked out. . . . This oil is taken from federally certified seed and Health Canada licensed ( a southern Ontario farmer ) to grow the seed and inspectors gave him a certificate of analysis. "Our attorney sent the paperwork on to Health Canada and everything has their stamp on it."
A Health Canada spokesman said Thursday if the paperwork is all in order, an investigation into the product should conclude the company isn't violating the Controlled Substances Act.
Asked why he didn't go the easy route and leave marijuana out of his company's name, Mr. Patriquen said simply: "I'm stubborn."
"In 1976 I was enrolled in pre-law and was busted for a joint. "I received a $300 fine and my dreams of law school were gone and the injustice of that has stayed with me."
Mr. Patriquen and his wife, Ms. Stephen, are members of the Marijuana Party of Canada and support the legalization of marijuana.
"Pot doesn't violate society. . . . Nobody is hurt by it. . . . It's a benign, natural and safe product," said Ms. Stephen.
Mr. Patriquen is allowed to grow marijuana in his home for medical purposes. A severe neck injury earned him a Health Canada exemption from prosecution.
Mr. Patriquen and Ms. Stephen say response to their product has been positive and they'll continue to market it as a food supplement.