Mr. Speaker, on February 7, I asked the Minister of Health a question regarding the medical marijuana being grown by Prairie Plant Systems in Flin Flon, Manitoba. Actually my question concerned the hundreds of pounds of marijuana being grown down in the depths of the mine. I said that Canadians wanted know what was being done with the pot from the rock garden and how the joint venture benefited Canadians.
The problem here is that there is no transparency on this issue. On May 7, 2002, the Minister of Health told the health committee that the first harvest produced approximately 185 strains of marijuana. She failed to mention the quantity of marijuana and its intended use.
Since then there has been no mention of the first crop of marijuana or of the subsequent second crop of apparently research grade marijuana. I believe Canadians would like to know the fate of hundreds of pounds of taxpayer funded pot.
Another problem I am concerned about is that there is an obvious disconnect between the way Health Canada handles the marijuana file and the way it is handling the tobacco file. The federal tobacco control strategy has committed over $500 million over five years to get people to quit smoking and the government also gives permission to hundreds of Canadians to smoke marijuana. What is wrong with this picture?
Even though Health Canada admits it has not assessed marijuana use for medical purposes for its safety, efficacy and quality, it has granted licences to Canadians to smoke the substance.
As of February 7, Health Canada has issued 541 authorizations to possess, of which 537 are still active, 353 personal productions licences are out there and 32 designated person licences.
Health Canada offers us three categories for medical marijuana access. Category one is for terminally ill patients with a prognosis of a life span of less than 12 months. I do not think anybody would withhold marijuana from somebody who is dying.
Category two involves those suffering from specific symptoms associated with certain serious conditions, like multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, spinal disease, cancer, AIDS/HIV, severe forms of arthritis and epilepsy.
Category three is for those who have symptoms associated with a serious medical condition, other than those described, where conventional treatments have failed to relieve their symptoms.
Nowhere does Health Canada tell the public how many of these people are terminally ill, category one, or how many belong in each category.
This is a problem. The medical community acknowledges that marijuana produces 50% more tar than the same weight of tobacco. Marijuana smoke contains 70% more benzopyrene than tobacco smoke. Smoking two or three marijuana cigarettes is widely estimated to have the same effect on the risk of cancers and the prevalence of acute and chronic respiratory systems as smoking 20 or more cigarettes.
To gain access, a declaration must be made that the benefits to the applicant from the recommended use would outweigh the risks, and that includes the long term risks.
If people are supposed to get their own marijuana, which is untested for uniformity, for safety, for efficacy, how is a medical doctor supposed to determine if the benefits outweigh the risks except in terminal cases? If a patient's level of drug tolerance and the depth of inhalation vary greatly and impact significantly on the amount needed to obtain the desired level, how can a doctor in good faith prescribe a correct dosage for the patient?
Why is Health Canada sending mixed signals to Canadians: that it is okay to smoke marijuana but it is bad to smoke cigarettes? What has been done with the pot? How are Canadians benefiting from this exercise?